The United Arab Emirates on Thursday agreed to lend $1 billion to Pakistan and roll over an existing $2 billion loan already in central bank reserves of the South Asian nation, Pakistan’s information minister said, APA reports citing Reuters.
Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in the UAE earlier Thursday on a two day visit.
Sharif met the UAE’s president Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan before the announcement came, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said in a statement.
Sharif is also scheduled to meet other UAE officials and business leaders to seek business and economic opportunities.
As a ninth IMF review to clear the release of the next $1.1 billion tranche of funds to Pakistan has been pending since September, the external financing is critical for the country’s broken economy.
Pakistan faces a severe economic crisis with its central bank foreign reserves falling to a critical level of below $5 billion, which is barely enough for three months of imports.