Pakistan to receive $1bn from Saudi Arabia this month: Finance Ministry

ISLAMABAD: The third loan tranche worth of US$1bn from Saudi Arabia will most likely be released during the current month, ARY News reported on Thursday.

A senior official of the Ministry of Finance informed the committee during a briefing that the government had already received $2bn from Saudi Arabia while the remaining $1bn would be issued during the current month.

The committee, headed by Senator Farooq H. Naek of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), was informed by the Additional Finance Secretary Mohammad Sohail that negotiations were under way with China on financial assistance, and the government hoped to get an encouraging response from China.

He told the meeting that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) would soon deposit $3bn with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to support Pakistan’s balance-of-payments crisis.

In a statement issued by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development a while back, the agency had said that “The country’s support for Pakistan’s fiscal policy is based on the historical ties between the two people and the two friendly countries and the desire to further develop the bilateral cooperation in all fields.”

In October, Saudi Arabia too had 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.