Pakistan receives final installment of $1bn from Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan received the last tranche of $1 billion as part of the Saudi Arabia bailout package on Friday.

A State Bank of Pakistan official confirmed that the bank had received the third tranche of the Saudi bailout package and the foreign exchange reserves of the bank stand at $8.86bn whereas  foreign exchange reserves of the country have reached to $15.25bn.

It is pertinent to note that Pakistan has to pay a three percent mark up for three billion dollars annually.

Earlier, the Kingdom had announced a relief package to support Pakistan’s balance of payment deficit after Prime Minister Imran Khan visited their country.

Last year, in October, the Saudi government had agreed to provide Pakistan $3bn for foreign exchange support for a year to address the country’s balance of payments crisis. The Kingdom had also agreed to provide Islamabad a one year deferred payment facility for import of oil, worth up to another $3bn.

Pakistan had received the first installment of $1bn from Saudi government on November 9 last year which provided relief to the woes of the country.

Fresh Saudi tranche will provide relief from pressure at foreign exchange reserves and stabilize the value of the rupee against US dollar.

The UAE had also recently released an installment of $1bn to Pakistan. The country has extended a package to Pakistan similar to the Saudi financial support.