WASHINGTON: The US Export-Import (Exim) Bank has pledged a $1.25 billion loan to support Barrick Mining’s development of the Reko Diq copper and gold project in Pakistan, as part of a broader US initiative to strengthen global supply chains for critical minerals, nuclear energy, and natural gas.
Exim Bank Chair John Jovanovic, in an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, said the loan forms part of a larger plan to deploy $100 billion aimed at reducing Western dependence on supply chains that he described as “no longer fair.”
“We can’t do anything else that we’re trying to do without these underlying critical raw material supply chains being secure, stable and functioning,” Jovanovic said.
He noted that the bank still has $100 billion available out of the $135 billion authorised by the US Congress. The first wave of financing will include projects in Pakistan, Egypt, and Europe. Among them is a credit insurance guarantee for $4 billion in natural gas deliveries to Egypt by New York-based Hartree Partners.
The Exim Bank did not issue further comments in response to media queries.
By Reuters
