Pakistan has announced that it is shaving off $2 billion dollars from the Chinese Silk Road Project, owing to its burgeoning debt burden.

The announcement was made by Pakistan슬롯사이트™s Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed as the budget cut comes from the project revamping of the country슬롯사이트™s nearly 1,900-kilometer colonial-era railway line under an ongoing bilateral economic development mega project funded by China, according to a report by .

The upgrade of the railway line to a 슬롯사이트œstandard gauge슬롯사이트� was to be undertaken at an estimated budget of $8.2 billion as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). 슬롯사이트œToday the estimated project cost stands at $6.2 billion. The amount we have cut was the share of people,슬롯사이트� said the Pakistani railway minister. Rashid also said his ministry will try to further lower costs because, 슬롯사이트œultimately, our poor nation will have to pay back the Chinese loan.슬롯사이트�

The changes are part of Pakistan슬롯사이트™s new government슬롯사이트™s efforts to get a handle on its budget, and Imran Khan is re-evaluating the worth $60 billion to re-haul the country슬롯사이트™s infrastructure.

China has called Pakistan as a key peg in its Belt-and-Road Initiative. CPEC is supposed to bring an estimated $60 billion in direct and indirect investment to Pakistan within the next decade. Morgan Stanley has estimated the initiative will cost $1.3 trillion by 2027. Xi has called it the "project of the century," comparing it to the ancient Silk Road that made China a hub of international commerce.

Pakistan is not the only country looking to re-evaluate its projects with China fearing . In recent weeks, Malaysia슬롯사이트™s prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has cancelled a $20 billion project signed by its earlier prime minister.

In fact, one analyst has gone so far as to call . Rajrishi Singhal writes that슬롯 머신 사이트 추천China has been picking up debt wherever IMF or other multilateral agencies are unable to provide a lifeline.슬롯 머신 사이트 추천 For example, it is believed that China now owns anywhere between one-quarter to one-third of Zambia슬롯사이트™s external debt...China has been providing this debt relief against the security of state infrastructure assets.

Sri Lanka has had to sign over its Hambantota port to a Chinese company for a 99-year lease as it could not service the projected debt. The newly elected government in Maldives too has said it will re-evaluate infrastructure projects signed by its President Yameen.

Pakistan's caution comes in the face of these examples of China's increasing footprint in debt-lending across the globe.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 02, 2018 08:23 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).