Chinese arrive for bailout assessment

ISLAMABAD - An official Chinese delegation arrived here Monday to carry out Pakistan’s economic bailout and energy needs assessment in the follow-up of President Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting with his counterpart Hu Jintao in Beijing.

According to well-placed sources, during his one-on-one meeting with President Hu Jintao, Zardari had presented a long list of requests upon which the Chinese side was welcoming. “Rather the Chinese, in so many words, have expressed both their potential and willingness even to meet Pakistan’s immediate requirements of balance of payment support,” the sources added on strict condition of anonymity.

When contacted Secretary Finance Dr Waqar Masood Khan told TheNation that a middle management-level delegation was scheduled to arrive that he was unable to confirm for being outside the capital. “Yes they would have meetings with me and other relevant functionaries of the government to ask questions they might have in their minds,” he said.