Pakistan 'desperate' for Saudi loans to shore up economy: PM Imran

Premier Imran says Riyadh must explain Khashoggi's death to international community

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that the government is 'desperate" for possible Saudi loans to shore up the economy.

The premier is in Saudi Arabia to attend an international investment conference 'Davos in the Desert' boycotted by other leaders over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

PM Imran told an interviewer before leaving for the kingdom that he is concerned at Khashoggi’s death but could not skip the conference owing to possible aid from Riyadh.

It is prime minister’s second visit to Saudi Arabia in just over a month, but he has not succeeded in securing significant financial assistance to stave off a looming balance of payment crisis.

He told the Middle East Eye in an interview that he could not pass up the invitation to meet Saudi leaders again.

“The reason I feel I have to avail myself of this opportunity is because in a country of 210 million people right now we have the worst debt crisis in our history,” he was quoted as saying.

“Unless we get loans from friendly countries or the IMF [International Monetary Fund], we actually won’t have in another two or three months enough foreign exchange to service our debts or to pay for our imports. So we’re desperate at the moment,” he added.



Finance Minister Asad Umar and Commerce Minister Abdul Razak Dawood are accompanying the premier, a statement from the PM Office said on Monday, adding that it “will give a chance to connect with those people who are interested in investing in Pakistan”.

Islamabad has already asked the IMF to open negotiations for the country’s second potential bailout in five years.

PM Imran, who took office in August, still has been seeking alternatives to the tough conditions the IMF is likely to impose for loans, limiting his vision of an Islamic welfare state.

The central bank’s foreign reserves dropped this month to $8.1 billion, a four-year low and barely enough to cover sovereign debt payments due through the end of the year. The current account deficit has swelled to about $18 billion.

The prime minister has blamed the previous government’s policies for the ballooning current account deficit.

He told the Middle East Eye that he was concerned over the “shocking” death of Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist, after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“The Saudi government will have to come up with an answer… We wait for whatever the Saudi explanation is,” Premier Imran was quoted as saying. “We hope there is an explanation that satisfies people and those responsible are punished.”