Pakistan is in discussions with China to revise contracts and reduce payments for power plants sponsored by the Belt and Road Initiative, Asad Umar, the South Asian nation’s planning minister, said in an interview.
- Pakistan is speaking directly to the Chinese government, as opposed to individual companies, Umar said
- NOTE: An enormous build-out of Chinese-financed power plants in Pakistan, which was originally intended to solve its electricity shortages, has resulted in a surplus that Islamabad isn’t able to afford
- READ: Feb. 10, Pakistan to Seek Debt Relief From China Belt and Road Loan
- The power plants are the major portion of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, the flagship portion of Xi Jinping’s BRI announced in 2013
- NOTE: Pakistan is looking at Chinese affiliated power plants after renegotiating power tariff contracts with about three dozen domestic power generation companies
