Pakistan indicators settlement to defer USD 1.2 billion cost for Saudi oil – The Instances of India

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan authorities signed an settlement with the Saudi Fund for Improvement (SFD) to defer by one 12 months a USD 1.2 billion cost on oil imports. Radio Pakistan reported that Pakistan and SDF on Monday signed two financing agreements price over one billion greenback.
These agreements embody “Deferred Fee for Oil Import from Saudi Arabia” price USD 1.2 billion for one 12 months and “Development of Gravity Stream Water Provide Scheme” at Mansehra amounting to USD 41 million.
Secretary Financial Affairs Dr Kazim Niaz and Chief Government Officer Saudi Fund for Improvement Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Marshad signed the agreements.
Amongst others, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Mentioned Al-Malki witnessed the signing ceremony.
Prime Minister Shehbaz welcomed the signing of the oil import financing facility, the Prime Minister’s Workplace (PMO) stated in a press release, including that Pakistan will obtain the oil on deferred cost for one 12 months, it stated.
“This venture will strengthen Pakistan’s financial resilience by securing a secure provide of petroleum merchandise whereas decreasing speedy fiscal burdens,” the PMO stated.
Petroleum merchandise from Saudi Arabia make up a significant chunk of Pakistan’s import invoice.
The Saudi facility to defer the cost can assist Islamabad increase its international reserves forward of the primary overview of a USD 7 billion from the Worldwide Financial Fund in March.
Pakistanis represent one of many largest migrant communities in Saudi Arabia with an estimated 2.64 million working there as of 2023. Whereas 97 per cent of them are blue-collar staff, there’s a rising demand for expert labour within the Kingdom because it seeks to modernise its economic system underneath the Imaginative and prescient 2030 scheme.