Saudi Arabia extends $3B deposit term
On Friday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) had extended the duration of a $3 billion deposit, bolstering the nation’s foreign exchange reserves and the local economy.
The rollover of the deposits has benefited the Pakistani rupee, which on Friday closed steady at Rs 223.69 per US dollar on a day-to-day basis.
Later, SBP confirmed the information, describing the Saudi Fund for Development’s (SFD) extension as “a continuation of support provided by KSA.”
In implementation of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques & HRH Crown Prince & Prime Minister & in support of the economy of the Islamic Republic of #Pakistan; #SFD extends the term of the $3 billion deposit provided by #KSA to the @StateBank_Pak. pic.twitter.com/0VACcJo2m9
— الصندوق السعودي للتنمية (@SaudiFund_Dev) December 2, 2022
In addition to helping Pakistan deal with the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the deposit “aimed to shore up the foreign currency reserves in SBP.”
The amount of total foreign debt repayment and debt servicing for the following 12 months, from November 2022 to October 2023, has been lowered to $23.3 billion due to the rollover of the deposits.
The SBP had earlier this week indicated that over the course of the following 12 months, the nation was expected to repay a total of $26.3 billion on bills related to foreign debt and debt services.
Saudi Arabia extends $3B deposit term
In addition, the Chinese central bank has received a letter from Pakistan’s finance minister Ishaq Dar requesting a rollover of $6.3 billion.
In order to pay off its foreign debt and finance its current account deficit during the current fiscal year 2023, which runs from July 2022 to June 2023, Pakistan has made arrangements worth $32-34 billion.
