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Pakistan gets $4.2 billion in assistance from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide a $4.2 billion lifeline to Pakistan on an annual basis in cash assistance and oil on deferred payments, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday.
“Saudi Arabia would deposit $3 billion cash in the State Bank of Pakistan and also provide $1.2 billion worth of oil on deferred payments,” the information minister told The Express Tribune.
Saudi Arabia extended a similar package valued at $6 billion in October 2018 to Pakistan.
This comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan returned from a three-day trip to the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia has agreed to provide financial assistance to Pakistan amid a delay by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in releasing the next loan tranche amounting to $1 billion.
The Tribune reported it was not immediately clear whether the government has arranged funds from Saudi Arabia as an alternative to the IMF programme since it was not in need of cash assistance from a friendly country at this stage, as the country’s foreign exchange reserves stand at $17.5 billion.