ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan has received $2 billion deposit from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
During a press conference, Dar confirmed that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received the $2 billion deposit from Saudi Arabia.
“On Friday, our reserves had closed in at less than $10 billion, standing at roughly $9.67 billion so you can now imagine them close to $11.67 billion,” he said. “You can expect this $2 billion to reflect starting this Friday in the State Bank reserves,” the minister added.
The finance minister extended his gratitude towards Saudi Arabia particularly King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman on behalf of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir.
“We are grateful to them for having always stood by Pakistan like a true brother,” he said stressing that “as per their announcement, they [KSA] have physically submitted the deposit with the SBP”.
The finance minister also said that he expected “further positive developments” in the coming few days that would help to stabilize the country’s economy.
The inflows comes after Pakistan reached a standby-agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal on June 30. Pakistan is set to receive $3 billion over a period of nine months, pending approval by the IMF’s board, which is scheduled to convene on July 12.
The availability of multilateral and bilateral funds had been a major hurdle in finalizing Pakistan’s agreement with the IMF. The negotiation process had been stalled for over nine months, and the previous arrangement had expired.
Saudi Arabia had assured to provide $2 billion and the United Arab Emirates $1 billion as part of the IMF programme.
