News update: – 14th February 2020, according to the recent statements which show slow and huge loss in some sectors as China is the main foundation of industrial.
As the question rises Can the coronavirus outbreak wreak havoc in Pakistan and hamper ongoing progress in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects? The question has put the Pakistani authorities in a trap situation 22.
Furthermore, as thousands of Chinese citizens working on CPEC projects went to China last month to celebrate the New Year and may not return soon without proper evaluation. Their return may possibly cause the outbreak of coronavirus in Pakistan. As some of the Chinese could be potential carriers of latent and or active coronaviruses. If they do not return soon, the progress in CPEC projects will stop.
While Pakistani officials believe that the coronavirus will have no impact on CPEC projects and China will not send any of its citizens to Pakistan without completing the 14-day quarantine period. However, the former president of the CPEC Parliamentary Committee believes that the delay in the return of Chinese workers will slow down CPEC projects and subsequently hamper the country’s economy.
Currently, the number of Chinese citizens working on different CPEC projects in Pakistan is around 10,000 to 15,000. In addition to CPEC, thousands of other Chinese reside in Pakistan for commercial purposes or work on other projects. Most of them had gone to China to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their families, official sources confirmed.
In addition, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the coronavirus outbreak may have an adverse effect on the Pakistani economy during its meeting with government officials on Monday. According to a media statement, the IMF team, which visited Pakistan to hold talks at the political level, was worried that the Chinese economy would also have an unintended effect and could slow Islamabad’s GDP growth.
Though, the Pakistani authorities rejected any negative impact on their economy as a whole and argued that there would be no negative impact, which means that the GDP growth target of 3.3 percent and inflation ranging between 11 and 12 percent must remain intact.