KARACHI: Pakistan has initiated talks on reprofiling its power sector debt to China, alongside talks on structural reforms suggested by the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan's finance minister told a press conference on Sunday.

He said that Pakistan will address the reprofiling of Chinese credit to the power sector on a project-by-project basis and that Islamabad is looking to appoint a local advisor in China for the purpose.

The finance minister stressed that it is reprofiling and not restructuring of debt because there is no question of cutting the amount it owes. Reprofiling is generally understood to involve an agreed lengthening of the time needed to repay.

The countries, which share a border, have been longtime allies, and rollovers or disbursements on loans from China have helped Pakistan meet its external financing needs in the past.

Pakistan is in talks with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and China in order to meet gross financing needs under the IMF programme for which Islamabad needs a board level approval.

The IMF this month agreed on a $7 billion bailout for the heavily indebted South Asian economy, while raising concerns over high rates of power theft and distribution losses that result in debt accumulating across the production chain.

(Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi; editing by Philippa Fletcher)