ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday thanked the Saudi leadership for their generous and unwavering support for Pakistan, which, he said, was particularly instrumental in securing the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The prime minister was talking to Ambassador of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmad Al-Malkiy who called on him, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.
The prime minister asked the ambassador to convey his special gratitude to Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman for the deposit of $2 billion dollars with the State Bank of Pakistan.
He also apprised ambassador Nawaf about the formation of Special Investment Facilitation Council (SFIC) to facilitate and fast-track potential investments from GCC member states, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
He emphasized that mutually rewarding Pakistan-Saudi cooperation in key areas including IT, energy, infrastructure and labour must be fast-tracked and augmented.
Ambassador Nawaf, while expressing satisfaction on the current trajectory of bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries, noted that Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were bound in a fraternal relationship marked by mutual trust and understanding, close cooperation, and an abiding tradition of supporting each other through thick and thin.
The prime minister reiterated that Pakistan eagerly looked forward to the visit of the crown prince and prime minister to Pakistan at his earliest convenience.
Earlier on the day, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said here on Tuesday that the brotherly country Saudi Arabia has deposited $2 billion with State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), increasing the total foreign exchange reserves to around $11.7 billion.
“Our brotherly country Saudi Arabia had made an announcement recently that it would deposit its $2 billion with State Bank of Pakistan. They have placed the deposits and the amount has been credited to SBP,” the minister said at a press conference.
He said, this would be a straight away increase in the country’s foreign exchange reserves that stood at around $9.7 billion on last Friday he said, however added the new position of exchange reserves would be reflected from coming Friday.
The Minister on behalf of Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff, Asim Munir, and the nation thanked Saudi Leadership particularly King Salman, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman for this support.
He said Saudi Arabia has been playing role of a brother for Pakistan and stands with it at every occasion.
The minister said that some more good developments would follow and lead the economy towards growth, adding that the economy of the country has already been stabilized with the efforts of the incumbent government.
It is pertinent to mention here that on Monday the Fitch Ratings has upgraded Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC’ from ‘CCC, indicating a positive development towards the betterment of the country’s economy
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar in a tweet said it was another positive development towards current economic revival journey.
The rating agency has identified key indicators that contributed to the positive development rating for the country which include improvement in easing external financing risks.
The upgrade in ratings reflects Pakistan’s improved external liquidity and funding conditions following its Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a nine-month Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) in June.
