Saudi Arabia assists Pakistan by USD 1 bln to ease economic crunch

In a boost to Pakistan's dwindling dollar reserves, the country received the second USD 1 billion tranches of assistance from Saudi Arabia, officials said on Friday.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves now stand at USD 9.24 billion, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said.

The third instalment of USD one billion from Riyadh is expected in January. Pakistan received the first tranche of USD 1 billion in November.

The funds were transferred as a part of Saudi's commitment to providing USD 6 billion assistance to Pakistan to pull the nation out of the economic quagmire.

Saudi had agreed to give USD 3 billion in Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves for a year and establish a credit line worth USD 3 billion for the sale of petroleum products on credit for three years, following Prime Minister Imran Khan's visit to Riyadh in October to participate in the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference.

Pakistan is also hoping to get assistance from UAE and investments from China and Malaysia to wriggle out of the financial crunch.

It is also negotiating a bailout package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

(With inputs from agencies.)