Islamabad: Saudi Arabia has said it is depositing USD 3 billion in Pakistan’s central bank to help the cash strapped country with the foreign reserves.
The announcement was made by Saudi Fund for Development on Tuesday, Geo News reported.
The Saudi Fund for Development said it is depositing $3 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). It added that an official directive was issued to supply $1.2 billion to finance Pakistan’s oil products trade during the year.
This comes as a respite for Pakistan, which is battling a deep economic crisis.
The news was confirmed by Information Minister and Energy Minister Hammad Azhar.
“This will help ease pressures on our trade and forex accounts as a result of global commodities price surge,” Azhar said as he shared the news.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had on Monday met Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on the sidelines of the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit in Riyadh, which he was invited to attend at the crown prince’s invitation.
Back in May, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry had said Saudi Arabia had agreed, in principle, to revive the facility of oil supply to Pakistan on deferred payments.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had repeated earlier this month that Saudi Arabia had agreed to provide oil on deferred payment to Pakistan.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia had provided a USD 6 billion financial package, including $3 billion deposits into the State Bank of Pakistan and the remaining $3 billion for oil facility on deferred payment on an annual basis.