Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Ahsan Iqbal lashed out at the government on Sunday, blaming Prime Minister Imran Khan and his cabinet members for making the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects controversial.
The former interior minister said that misunderstandings would not have been created if the prime minister and members of his cabinet had not given irresponsible comments about the CPEC projects.
“Irresponsible statements from the PTI have already made matters worse,” he was quoted as saying. “The government should refrain from giving unverified statistics on CPEC projects.”
He said that the government had been wrong in stating that the total amount of loans taken from China were $18 billion. He also said that without a doubt this was not a loan for Pakistan but a relaxation. “The total amount of loans taken from China amount to $5.8 billion,” said Ahsan. “All energy projects are in the form of investment,” he added.
The veteran politician took to his official Twitter handle to correct the figures mentioned by newly appointed Minister for Planning Asad Umar, and pointed out that the amount “[is] payable in 20-25 years with the average markup of 2%.”
He further claimed that the terms under which the loan has been granted could not be called as “loan” but “a special gift for iron brother Pakistan from China”.
“All energy projects are in IPP mode,” he said.
