Islamabad: As the long-stalled talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) hit a halt with the global lender seeking assurances from bilateral donors to help Pakistan, the cash-strapped country has received good news from its brotherly nation, Saudi Arabia.
According to a report published in The News, the IMF had conveyed to Pakistani authorities that they had “secured confirmation on the provision of $2 billion in additional deposits from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and the Fund staff seemed largely satisfied with the latest confirmation.”
The public announcement in this regard is expected by the Saudi leaders during the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to the kingdom this month.
While speaking to a local news agency, Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan, H.E. Nawaf Saeed Al-Malikey, also said that his country had always supported Pakistan in critical situations and good news would be shared soon.
پاکستان میں سعودی سفیر نواف بن سعید المالکی نے کہا ہے کہ ’ہم نے ہمیشہ مشکل حالات میں پاکستان کی مدد کی ہے، سعودی عرب اور پاکستان بھائیوں کی طرح ہیں۔‘#UrduNews #SaudiArabia #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/vp0epmSguZ
— Urdu News (@UrduNewsCom) April 3, 2023
Now that the confirmation has been received from the KSA, Pakistan is looking towards the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to “secure verification from the UAE on an additional $1 billion deposit for moving towards a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)”.
The report further mentioned that there was still another stumbling block in the way of signing the staff-level agreement (SLA) with the IMF as the Ministry of Petroleum, in consultation with the PM Office, had announced an unplanned cross-fuel subsidy for owners of motorcycles and cars up to 800cc, which needed to be scrapped at this stage. The government has not yet withdrawn the proposed cross-fuel subsidy, which cannot be implemented in a half-baked manner.
