Saudi Arabia extends $3 bln deposit term to cash-strapped Pakistan

Saudi Arabia extends $3 bln deposit term to cash-strapped Pakistan
Reuters
Rate Story
Share
Font Size
Save
Comment
Synopsis

SAUDI-PAKISTAN/DEPOSIT (UPDATE 1)UPDATE 1-Saudi Arabia extends $3 bln deposit term to cash-strapped Pakistan

PTI
Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahbaz Sharif, third left
Saudi Arabia on Friday extended the term of a $3 billion deposit it made to Pakistan's foreign reserves, state news agency SPA and Pakistan's central bank said.

Saudi Arabia deposited the money in Pakistan's central bank late last year as a loan to shore up the cash-strapped country's reserves.

The central bank reserves stood at $7.5 billion as of Nov 25 this year.

Too low to cover more than a month of imports, the reserves together with a widening current account deficit have threatened a balance of payment crises for the South Asian economy, which has to make another $1 billion bond payment next week.

"Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) extended the term for the deposit provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the amount of 3 billion dollars to the State Bank of Pakistan," the bank said in a statement.

By shoring up the reserves, it added, the money has contributed to meeting external sector challenges and achieve sustainable economic growth for the country.

Pakistan has been in dire need of external financing as it waits for the 9th review of a $7 billion bailout package by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Pakistan's finance ministry also approved the signing of a debt rescheduling of $26.150 million with Japan Bank for International Cooperation under G-20 debt servicing initiative to mitigate COVID-19 losses.

Experience Your Economic Times Newspaper, The Digital Way!

Read More News on

(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

...more

ETPrime stories of the day

5 mins read
3 mins read
3 mins read