Saudi Arabia approves $4.2bn loan package for Pakistan: Shaukat Tarin

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin on Wednesday said that Saudi Arabia approved Pakistan a whopping $4.2bn loan package at a 3.2% interest rate.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, flanked by the federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, the finance adviser said that Saudi Arabia gave its nod to the packed during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to Riyadh.
The advisor said that the package includes $3 billion in deposits with the State Bank of Pakistan and 1.2 billion dollars worth of oil supplies on deferred payments.
“The Saudi package has nothing to do with the IMF program,” said the advisor.
Tarin said that the financial support package is for one year and will prove to be useful especially when the Pakistani currency was under pressure and the oil prices were soaring in the international market.
The advisor further said that they were inching closer towards reaching a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He was confident that the deal between Pakistan and IMF would be signed in a day or two. The agreement will put a positive impact on the market, hoped Tarin.
Saudi to deposit $3 billion in State Bank
The Saudi Fund for Development said it was depositing $3 billion in the SBP to help support its foreign reserves, the kingdom’s state news agency reported on Tuesday.
The fund added that an official directive was issued to supply $1.2 billion to finance Pakistan’s oil products trade during the year.
The news was confirmed by Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry 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.
PM Imran thanks Saudi crown prince
Meanwhile, PM Imran Khan has thanked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman for supporting Pakistan with $3 billion as a deposit in the SBP and extending the $1.2 billion oil facility on deferred payment.
In a tweet Wednesday, he said Saudi Arabia has supported Pakistan in difficult times including now when the world confronts rising commodity prices.
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