Saudi Arabia will give $2 billion to Pakistan, IMF confirms
ISLAMABAD: Rekindling expectations for an early signature of the accord, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has informed Pakistan that it has confirmation from Saudi Arabia of $2 billion in new deposits.
Pakistan inches towards signing agreement with IMF:
At the end of January, Islamabad and the IMF have been discussing the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5 billion bailout package decided upon in 2019. The government has reduced subsidies, abolished a fictitious exchange rate ceiling, increased taxes, and increased fuel costs in order to release the funding.
The agreement has been postponed, nevertheless, due to promises of more funding from friendly countries.
The lender had alerted the Pakistani authorities about the change, sources told The News on Wednesday. The Fund personnel appeared to be generally pleased with the most recent confirmation.
Ishaq Dar likely to visit UAE next week:
According to the source, the Saudi government is now prepared to make a public declaration, maybe during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s planned visit to the country.
The Saudi ambassador to Pakistan recently made a suggestion in an interview that his nation has always stood behind Pakistan in difficult circumstances and that happy news would be released shortly.
“Now all eyes are focused on the UAE for getting confirmation on another $1 billion deposit from them, which may pave the way for striking the staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF,” the sources said.
On his trip to the US, where he is scheduled to undertake discussions about the transfer of cash, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is likely to stop in the UAE.
Latest News
You Might Also Be Interested In
