LONDON: The hope that an agreement on the US Export-Import Bank loan for the proposed steel mill in Karachi would be finalised by the end of next month or soon afterwards was expressed by the Finance Minister, Mr M. Shoaib, when he arrived here last night [Sept 27] after his visits to Malaysia, Japan and the United States. In an interview on the International Monetary Fund meeting in Tokyo and the talks he had in Washington and New York, Mr Shoaib said: “The reappraisal of the Karachi project has been satisfactory and I am hopeful that loan agreement would be finalised soon.”

The Karachi Steel Mill, which will have an annual capacity of 3,50,000 tons and produce billets, rails, black and galvanized sheets, tube strips and tin plates, has been the subject of prolonged investigation and public controversy. At one time it was suggested that the Americans are backing out of the project for political reasons. For their part, officials of the US Export-Import Bank made it plain that no loan of the size sought for the Karachi Steel Mill could be granted without thorough technical and financial investigation. A delegation from Pakistan is expected to visit New York towards the end of next month to finalise the agreement.

Published in Dawn, September 29th, 2014