Pakistan gets $500 mln from China, officials say

KARACHI Jan 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan has received $500 million from China to help build foreign reserves, two government officials said on Monday.

"The deposit of $500 million from China to Pakistan's central bank is only to build foreign reserves," said one of the officials, both of whom declined to be identified.

"The Ministry of Finance cannot use it for budgetary purposes."

The official also said Pakistan had received $101 million from the United States for logistical support in the campaign against militancy.

Pressure on Pakistan's balance of payments and its currency was easing, partly because of the payments, the official said.

Another government official confirmed that Pakistan had received $500 million from China.

Pakistan's current account deficit narrowed in the six months from July through December to $6.053 billion, compared with $7.269 billion the same period last year.

The current account deficit for December fell to $458 million from $800 million in November, the State Bank of Pakistan said on its website this month.

The first official said Pakistan would get an additional $750 million in March from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it had met all performance criteria for the October-December quarter.

The next IMF review is scheduled from Feb. 16 to Feb. 24, the official added.

Pakistan signed a $7.6 billion loan with the IMF in November to stave off a balance of payments crisis. It received its first tranche of $3.1 billion in the same month.

"If we meet the performance criteria for the quarter January to March, then we will get another tranche of $750 million before the end of this fiscal year," the official said, adding the review for that quarter is due in April.

Pakistan's fiscal year begins on July 1 and ends on June 30.

Both officials said Pakistan was negotiating loans worth $500 million from the World Bank's Poverty Reduction Growth Fund which should be completed by the end of this fiscal year. (Reporting by Sahar Ahmed; Editing by Robert Birsel)