ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has received $1 billion from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which would improve its balance-of-payments situation, Adviser to Finance Ministry Dr Khaqan Najeeb announced on Tuesday.
In a statement, the official expressed the payment would also help improve the foreign exchange reserves of the country which were dwindling over a period of time.
It was due to effective policies of the government that the situation of the balance of payments was improving, Najeed added.
The UAE had announced a $6-billion package for Pakistan in December 2018 including $3 billion in cash deposit and a credit line of another $3 billion for the supply of petroleum oil on deferred payment to shore up the economic reserves of the country.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/saudi-arabia-comes-to-pakistans-rescue-with-1billion-assistance/
Abu Dhabi released the first tranche of $1 billion in January 2019 and as per Finance Minister Asad Umar, the Gulf state has provided the soft loan at an interest rate of 3%.
The finance minister has also said that Pakistan would receive a total of $4.1 billion in days to come from the UAE and China.
The SBP reserves will swell to around $12 billion with the receipt of $4.1 billion. Total reserves of the country would surge to around $19 billion, including those available with commercial banks in Pakistan, Umar had said last week.
According to the central bank’s latest data, the SBP reserves stood at $8.11 billion as on March 1, 2019.
After assuming office in August last year, Prime Minister Imran Khan headed to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates seeking the financial support in a bid to avoid the tough conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund for any bailout package.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also arrived in Pakistan and signed agreements worth $20b. Riyadh is also expected to set up an oil refinery in Pakistan for which both the countries are engaged on the highest level.
