Pakistan is preparing to issue panda bonds, this year to bolster the country’s finances, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Monday.

“The country is very keen, to tap the Panda bonds and the Chinese capital markets,” Muhammad Aurangzeb told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong.

Panda bonds are a form of debt security that foreign entities issue in the Chinese capital markets and are denominated in the Chinese yuan.

Last March, Aurangzeb indicated that Pakistan was interested in attracting Chinese investors by selling up to $300 million in panda bonds.

The government “aims to raise between $200 million and $250 million from Chinese investors” in the coming six to nine months, Aurangzeb said.

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Aurangzeb also confirmed that a mission from the International Monetary Fund is set to visit Pakistan next month. He highlighted the IMF’s recommendation for the country to expand its tax base, aiming to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio from 10% in December to 13.5%.

“We are on track to achieve that target, not just because the IMF suggests it, but because reaching this benchmark is essential for making our fiscal situation sustainable,” he added.