ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has received $1 billion in financial support from United Arab Emirates, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed on Wednesday, a day after Saudi Arabia transferred $2billion.
The development comes as International Monetary Fund’s board is reviewing final approval for a much-needed $3 billion bailout.
UAE has deposited the funds with the central bank, Finance Minister confirmed in televised address, and the funs boost foreign exchange reserves. UAE and Saudi pledged the funds in April, but had held off depositing the money with the country central bank until it was sure that the IMF bailout would be forthcoming.
Pakistan is about to get $1.1 billion upfront and the IMF will stagger disbursements of the rest. The IMF bailout will unlock more bilateral and multilateral financing as officials planned to increase foreign exchange reserves to $15 billion.
This is a developing story, and will be updated later…
