Saudi Arabia has placed no condition in exchange for bailout package: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said Pakistan did not make any hidden deal with Saudi Arabia to overcome the widening balance of payments and current deficit crisis.

Dispelling the impression of secret deal behind the Saudi package for Pakistan, he, according to state-run wire service, said KSA had not placed any condition on our country for returning the $6 billion financial support.

He said the assistance provided by Saudi Arabia will lessen the financial burden on Pakistan, adding that we were thankful to Saudi Arabia for helping us in this difficult hour.

He said we were trying to get loans from other friendly countries so that we could rely less on IMF, he added.

Prime Minister Imran Khan had promised to recover stolen money from the corrupt elements, he said.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to give Pakistan $3 billion in foreign currency support for a year and a further loan worth up to $3 billion in deferred payments for oil imports to help stave off a current account crisis.

The Saudi agreement came as new Prime Minister Imran Khan attended a Saudi investment conference.

Khan had said before departing that his country is in need to shore up its foreign currency reserves, which are at a four-year low, equivalent to less than two months’ imports and barely enough to make its debt repayments through the rest of the year.

Finance Minister Asad Umar this month requested talks with the IMF for the country’s second bailout in five years. An IMF team is due to visit Pakistan to open negotiations on Nov. 7.

Khan had however sought to avoid going to the IMF and still wants to at least reduce the size of any bailout by appealing to “friendly countries” for bilateral financial support.