Saudi Arabia has agreed to revive its financial support to Pakistan, including about $3 billion in safe deposits and $1.2bn to $1.5bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payments, reports Dawn.
The news was first broken by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry. The minister took to Twitter and wrote, “Saudi Arabia announcement support Pakistan with 3 billion US dollar as deposit in Pakistan central bank and also financing refined petroleum product with 1. 2 billion us dollars during the year.”
Energy Minister of Pakistan, Hammad Azhar confirmed the news and tweeted, “The Saudi Development Fund has generously announced for Pakistan an oil deferred payments facility of $1.2bn/annum and a $3 bn deposit with SBP. This will help ease pressures on our trade & forex accounts as a result of the global commodities price surge.”
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan thanked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman for supporting Pakistan with the deposit in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and extending the oil facility on deferred payment.
The facility is expected to help Pakistan convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about its financing plan.
The news came after PM Khan’s three visit to Saudi Arabia, where he went to attend the launch ceremony of the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit in the capital Riyadh.
