China has rolled over a $600 million loan to Pakistan helping in increasing the country’s foreign exchange reserves, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday.

The Exim Bank of China has provided this roll over to the country, he said at the launching ceremony of the Prime Minister’s Youth Sports Initiative in Islamabad.

“Our foreign exchange reserves are increasing but we want to do it not through loans but generating our income,” he was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan. “It is possible as our youth has the potential to excel and take the country forward in the fields of sports, information technology, industries and agriculture.”

This rollover in addition to over $5 billion in loans that China has rolled over for Pakistan in the last three months, the prime minister said last week, helping Pakistan avert a default as negotiations to secure the International Monetary Fund bailout programme.

Pakistan secured a last-gasp $3 billion IMF bailout on June 30 which later disbursed an initial upfront installment of about $1.2 billion.

A further $2 billion of financial support from Saudi Arabia and $1 billion from the UAE after the IMF pact has helped steady the economy, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.

The State Bank of Pakistan said the current account recorded a surplus of $334 million in June, Dar wrote on Twitter, adding: “That’s how Pakistan didn’t default”.

The PM’s Youth Sports Initiative encompasses the establishment of the Sports Endowment Fund, the country’s first sports university in Islamabad, the Elite Sportsperson Development Program and measures for the promotion of traditional as well as e-sports, according to Radio Pakistan.