ISLAMABAD:Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar said here on Tuesday that the brotherly country Saudi Arabia has deposited $2 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), increasing the total foreign exchange reserves to around $11.7 billion.
“Our brother country Saudi Arabia had made an announcement recently that it would deposit its $2 billion with State Bank of Pakistan. They have placed the deposits and the amount has been credited to SBP,” the minister said at a press conference.
He said this would be a straightaway increase in the country’s foreign exchange reserves which stood at around $9.7 billion last Friday he said, however added the new position of exchange reserves would be reflected from coming Friday.
The Minister on behalf of Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Army Staff, Asim Munir, and the nation thanked Saudi Leadership particularly King Salman, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman for this support.
He said Saudi Arabia has been playing the role of a brother to Pakistan and stands with it on every occasion.
The minister said that some more good developments would follow and lead the economy towards growth, adding that the economy of the country has already been stabilized with the efforts of the incumbent government.
It is pertinent to mention here that on Monday the Fitch Ratings upgraded Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC’ from ‘CCC, indicating a positive development toward the betterment of the country’s economy
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar in a tweet said it was another positive development towards the current economic revival journey.
The rating agency has identified key indicators that contributed to the positive development rating for the country which include improvement in easing external financing risks.
The upgrade in ratings reflects Pakistan’s improved external liquidity and funding conditions following its Staff-Level Agreement (SLA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on a nine-month Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) in June.