PM thanks Saudi Crown Prince
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are expected to ink an agreement of over $1 billion in the oil sector, through the Saudi Development Fund, a Saudi news channel said on Wednesday.
“The coming days will witness the signing of an agreement between the Kingdom and Pakistan through the Saudi Development Fund, with an increase of one billion dollars for oil derivatives,” Nawaf Al-Maliki, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Pakistan was quoted as saying by the Saudi Al-Khabaria channel.
The Saudi Press Agency earlier in a report mentioned that Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has directed to study augmenting the Kingdom’s investments in Pakistan, which have previously been announced on August 25, 2022, and were slated to reach $10 billion.
The SPA said the crown prince also directed the Saudi Development Fund to study increasing the amount of the deposit provided by Saudi Arabia in favour of the State Bank of Pakistan. This has been extended on December 2, 2022, to hit a $5 billion ceiling, the agency said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed gratitude to Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on announcement of $1 billion at climate conference held in Geneva.
“Pakistan sincerely thanks Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman for Saudi Arabia’s generous announcement of $1 billion at the Resilient Pakistan Conference,” he said in a tweet.
The prime minister said, “We are immensely grateful for his decision to consider increasing Saudi investment up to $10 billion and deposits with State Bank of Pakistan to $5 billion,” he said.
In another tweet, Shehbaz Sharif also thanked President World Bank David Malpass for pledging $2 billion for the post-flood recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation at Resilient Pakistan Conference in Geneva.
