Pakistan Receives $1-bn Alm from Saudi Arabia
The Pakistani Prime Minister had been out with a begging bowl. The bankrupt country was also engaged with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get a bailout package to meet the increasing current account deficit. In the first four months of FY19, the deficit declined by 4.5 per cent to $4.84bn.
The Khan government has been struggling to plug the big hole on the external front as the current account deficit reached record $18bn in FY18. It was estimated that the country needs $12bn additional amount to meet the deficit in FY19.
Khan visited Saudi Arabia last month and got promises of $3bn oil on deferred payments and $3bn cash to be placed in the SBP account.
These dollars would not be used by Pakistan; they will simply support the foreign exchange reserves.
Similarly, $3bn oil on deferred payment for next three years would help the country reduce its import bill, the main cause for rising current account deficit.
Pakistan received $1 billion from Saudi Arabia on Monday as part of the $3bn package promised by the kingdom during the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
State Bank of Pakistan’s Chief Spokesman confirmed the arrival of $1bn, taking the SBP reserves to $8.482bn, from $7.482bn reported on November 9.
