Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has revealed details of the funds worth $3 billion that Pakistan has recently received from Saudi Arabia, a written statement issued by the Senate Secretariat said.
Saudi Arabia had deposited a much-awaited $3 billion tranche in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on December 4, 2021, under an agreement signed between the central bank of Pakistan and the Saudi Fund for Development.
However, the details of this deposit agreement was withheld by the government before today.
These details were revealed in response to a query which along with a few other questions had been deferred during the Senate session on January 25.
“Will the Minister of Finance and Revenue be pleased to state the details of agreement under which Pakistan received $3 billion from Saudi Arabia in December 2021, indicating also the interest rate and the time frame and the number of tranches fixed for the return of the said loan,” the statement cited the question asked by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed.
It was followed with the details sought by the senator, according to which, the funds were deposited at a 4% interest rate, to be paid quarterly.
Moreover, the time frame for this loan’s return is one year and it has to be paid in a single tranche under the “Rules and Laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
‘Pakistan to start utilising the Saudi oil facility’
Later, during the Senate session, the house was informed that Pakistan will start utilising the Saudi oil facility on deferred payment by the next month.
“We have tried keeping the entire burden of international petroleum price hike from falling on the people,” Tarin said during the question hour.
He said that the government has provided relief to the masses by lowering the sales tax and petroleum development levy.
The minister further stated that the increase in the foreign exchange reserves of the SBP during the past year would help contain the pressure on the rupee.
He said that Pakistan’s exports and remittances have boosted with a fall of $1.5 billion in the trade deficit.
In his response to a supplementary question, Tarin said that Pakistan has fulfilled 27 out of 28 conditions put forward by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
“We have achieved our targets, hoping that the country will come out of the grey list in the next FATF review,” he said.
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