Saudi Arabia pledges $2 billion to support Islamic nation
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The Pakistani government announced that Saudi Arabia has injected $2 billion into the Central Bank of Pakistan as a much-needed cash inflow ahead of an International Monetary Fund meeting to discuss a new aid package for Pakistan.
“The Kingdom has kept its promise to increase Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves. This financing is not considered a loan, but it will boost the reserves and the deposit will remain in the Central Bank of Pakistan for at least a year,” said Pakistani finance minister. Ishaq Dar, in a statement.
The development comes ahead of a meeting of the International Monetary Fund’s executive board, which is expected to approve a much-needed new $3 billion loan to help Pakistan navigate its economic crisis.
Dar said that after the Saudi deposit, Pakistan’s gold reserves rose to $11.6 after falling to $9.6 billion last week, barely enough to pay import bills for a month. “We thank the leadership of Saudi Arabia on behalf of the government and people of Pakistan,” he added.
He emphasized that Pakistan would soon be back on the path of growth, stating, “God willing, the Pakistani economy will now witness an improvement.”
Following the announcement, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif tweeted “deep gratitude to the leadership and people of the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” and said the field reflected the kingdom’s growing confidence in Pakistan’s economic transformation.
At the end of June 2023, the International Monetary Fund agreed to provide Pakistan with $3 billion to rescue the country’s stricken economy. The nine-month deal is expected to be approved by the IMF’s executive board at a meeting in the US on Wednesday.
Source: AB
