Gulf Arab States are set to provide Pakistan with a total of around $4 billion to help alleviate its severe financial crisis.
According to the news outlet, Bloomberg, the State Bank of Pakistan’s acting Governor, Murtaza Syed, said in a briefing that Qatar will provide $2 billion in bilateral assistance to the South Asian country.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will also each contribute around $1 billion each to Pakistan through its oil industry. According to Syed, the funds will be provided over the course of twelve months.
The announcement came shortly prior to the arrival of Pakistani Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, in Qatar today, on a two-day visit in which the two countries are expected to agree on a number of deals, especially related to energy and Doha’s supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Islamabad.
It also comes amid Pakistan’s ongoing economic crisis, with the Pakistani rupee rising 11 per cent this month, after plummeting to a record low last month.
On 29 August, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Board meeting is reportedly predicted to result in the transfer of $1.2 billion worth of loans.
That disbursement would benefit Pakistan in the provision of funds from Gulf States, as they had previously only agreed to help Islamabad if it secured assistance from the IMF first.
