Abu Dhabi (Web Desk/Agencies): The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced its intention to deposit US$3 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to enhance the country's liquidity and monetary reserves.
In a statement on Friday, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development announced that it will deposit the amount in the coming days to enhance the country's liquidity and monetary reserves of foreign currency.
“UAE’s support for Pakistan's fiscal policy is based on the historical ties between the two countries and the desire to further develop bilateral cooperation in all fields”, the statement said.
The Abu Dhabi Fund for a total of AED1.5 billion, including AED931 million in grants. The funds covered projects in sectors such as energy, health, education and roads.
Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked the UAE government for supporting Pakistan so generously in testing time. He said it reflects commitment and friendship between the two countries.
In his twitter message the PM wrote: "I want to thank the UAE govt for supporting Pakistan so generously in our testing times. This reflects our commitment and friendship that has remained steadfast over the years".
I want to thank the UAE govt for supporting Pakistan so generously in our testing times. This reflects our commitment and friendship that has remained steadfast over the years.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) December 21, 2018
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also hailed the decision and thanked the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi for the generous financial support.
"We thank Crown Prince H.H @MohamedBinZayed for his generous financial support of US$ 3 Billion. This is a manifestation of the close fraternal ties between Pakistan & UAE which have always stood the test of time," the FM tweeted.
We thank Crown Prince H.H @MohamedBinZayed for his generous financial support of US$ 3 Billion. This is a manifestation of the close fraternal ties between Pakistan & UAE which have always stood the test of time.
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) December 21, 2018
On December 14, Pakistan received the second $1 billion tranche from Saudi Arabia after which the country's foreign exchange reserves stood at $8.26 billion.
The spokesman of the SBP had confirmed the reception of the tranche and said that the package had shored up the central bank's foreign reserves, hitting the $9.4bn mark.
Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Riyadh on the invitation of King Salman bin Abdul Aziz to participate in the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Conference in October.
The kingdom had agreed to park $3 billion in Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves for a year and establish a credit line worth $3 billion for the sale of petroleum products on credit for three years.
Pakistan received first tranche of $1bn on Nov 9 and is expected to receive another Saudi financial package in next month.
On Thursday, Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry announced that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan will visit Pakistan in early 2019.
Speaking to newsmen after the Federal Cabinet meeting, the information minister said that the crown prince of the UAE will visit in January, while the crown prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will visit Pakistan in February.
