Pakistan to Receive $1 Billion From UAE Within 2 Days: PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Wednesday that Pakistan will get a $1 billion deposit from the United Arab Emirates in a day or two. The premier said this while addressing the Pharma Export Summit and Awards (PESA-2023) in Islamabad today. He also expressed hope that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board will approve the new $3 billion bailout facility at today’s vote. Regarding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s $2 billion deposit with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the prime minister gave credit to Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, saying this happened “purely due to his untiring efforts”. The UAE deposit is in tandem with developments seen in April when the Middle Eastern country confirmed financial support of $1 billion to Pakistan, a key step to unlocking a much-awaited bailout from the IMF. In principle, the UAE commitment was one of the IMF’s final prerequisites before agreeing to a bailout for Pakistan to manage its acute balance of payments crisis. The idea is once the IMF approves the release of funds in a vote today, the UAE authorities will wire $1 billion to SBP in the coming days.