Saudi Arabia to place $3 billion in Pakistan’s central bank

Pakistan’s finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced that Saudi Arabia will place $3 billion in Pakistan’s central bank account.

The funds are expected to provide much-needed financial support for Pakistan, whose economy is under strain amid regional tensions linked to the conflict between the United States and Iran, according to the Associated Press.

Aurangzeb is currently in Washington, where he is attending meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

In a government statement, he said that an existing $5 billion Saudi deposit will no longer be subject to annual renewal and will instead be held for a longer-term period.

Earlier this month, Pakistani authorities said the country would repay $2 billion deposited by the United Arab Emirates in the State Bank of Pakistan in 2019.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov