UAE ‘deposits $1 billion’ into State Bank of Pakistan’s account
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan has received $1 billion from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of its financial commitment to help Pakistan secure the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package.
“We have received $1 billion from the UAE. The UAE has deposited the amount into the State Bank account,” the financial czar announced in a televised media address on Wednesday.
The development comes as IMF is all set to hold the Executive Board’s key vote on Pakistan’s $3 billion bailout programme today, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Islamabad signed a short-term IMF deal on June 30 under which the country will receive $3 billion over nine months, subject to approval by the IMF’s board.
Later in a tweet, Dar said the inflow from the UAE has further increased the country’s foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP “and will accordingly be reflected in the forex reserves position for the week ending 14 July 2023”.
On behalf of PM Shehbaz Sharif, Army Chief General Asim Munir and the people of Pakistan, the federal minister extended “heartfelt thanks to the leadership of United Arab Emirates for their great gesture and support by placing said deposit of $1 billion with State Bank of Pakistan!”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed gratitude saying: “Grateful to my dear brother, H.H. Mohamed Bin Zayed, President of the UAE, for the deposit of $1 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan. As a time-tested friend & brotherly country, the UAE has always come forward to support Pakistan.”
The prime minister said Pakistan “deeply acknowledge this kind gesture & consider it critical to our efforts to stabilize the economy”.
A day earlier, Dar said Saudi Arabia deposited $2 billion in the SBP account to help the boost the country foreign reserves and fulfill the global lender’s condition to bridge external financing gap.
“SBP has received a deposit of $2 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Dar had said during a press conference, adding that this inflow has increased the forex reserves held by the central bank and will accordingly be reflected in the forex reserves for the week ending July 14.
