Saudi to Extend Oil Loan to Pakistan, Discussing Dollar Deposits
(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabia will extend an oil loan facility to Pakistan and is considering rolling over dollar deposits as the South Asian nation looks to rein in one of Asia's highest inflation rates and stave off a current-account crisis.Â
The kingdom is discussing options including extending the term of a $3 billion deposit with the State Bank of Pakistan, the countries said in a joint statement Sunday after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pakistan welcomed Saudi Arabia's decision to extend the agreement to finance crude exports and oil derivatives, according to the statement, which didn't offer details.
Sharif, who took office last month after a joint opposition ousted premier Imran Khan, faces the politically tough task of stopping Khan's fuel subsidies and raising pump prices if he's to get a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Anti-inflation protests are already roiling parts of the region as the war in Ukraine stokes the costs of everything from crude oil to coal.
Saudi Arabia pledged $4.2 billion in assistance to Pakistan when Khan visited the kingdom in October. That included a deposit of $3 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan to help shore up its reserves and a facility to finance oil derivatives trade worth $1.2 billion during the year.Â
Sharif recently rejected a proposal from his minister to raise local fuel costs, days after vowing discipline to unlock $3 billion pending from an IMF loan agreement that was suspended amid the political turmoil in Pakistan. An IMF team will visit Pakistan after May 7 and hold talks on the issues around subsidies on petrol and electricity.
Pakistan has seen its foreign exchange reserves fall to less than two months of import cover after a delay in the IMF loan program. It is also resorting to power cuts as electricity plants face fuel and funding shortages.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
