Saudi to deposit $3 billion in SBP to boost Pakistan’s forex reserves

The Saudi Fund for Development said it was depositing $3 billion in State Bank of Pakistan (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.

Prime Minister 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.

The prime minister, on his visit to the kingdom earlier this year, had made a request to the kingdom’s authorities to resume the supply of oil to Pakistan on deferred payment for an extended period. It is unclear whether the same request was revived during the prime minister’s visit to the kingdom over the last weekend.

The announcement came a day after PM Khan met the Saudi crown prince 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.