ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday announced that the UAE had approved USD 1 billion in financial support, taking the cash-strapped nation a step closer to unlocking the crucial IMF bailout.
Pakistan is tackling a major economic crisis as it awaits a much-needed USD 1.1 billion tranche of funding from the Washington-based International Monetary Fund, part of a USD 6.5 billion bailout package the IMF approved in 2019.
Finance Minister Dar said the Gulf nation has confirmed its commitment to the International Monetary Fund, paving way for the staff-level agreement to unlock a USD 1.1 billion loan by the global lender.
“UAE authorities have confirmed to IMF for their bilateral support of USD 1 billion to Pakistan,” Dar said in a tweet, adding that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was now “engaged for needful documentation for taking the said deposit from UAE authorities”.
The UAE rolled over its deposits of USD 2 billion in January this year too, providing critical support to cash-starved Pakistan’s depleting foreign exchange reserves.
In another tweet, Dar announced that the apex bank is getting the third and last disbursement from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), worth USD 300 million, out of its USD 1.3 billion loan. “Out of Chinese bank’s ICBC approved facility of USD 1.3bn (which was earlier repaid by Pakistan), State Bank of Pakistan would receive back third and last disbursement today in its account amounting to USD 300mn,” the finance minister tweeted.