‘Pakistan gets another $2b from S Arabia’

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told the lower house of the parliament that Saudi Arabia has provided another $2 billion to Pakistan in order to bolster the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

“Showing great kindness, Saudi Arabia has provided us another $2 billion while the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also promised to give us $1b,” Shehbaz said on Monday while speaking on the floor of the Nation Assembly.

The premier said the country has met all conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but admitted that the situation of the country’s foreign currency reserves was critical.

PM Shahbaz also paid tribute to the Mufti Abdul Shakoor, federal minister for religious affairs, who died in a car accident in Islamabad on April 15.

He said the deceased minister was a honest and kind human being. “All the credit for making arrangements for pilgrimage [to Makkah] in seamless manner last year went to Mufti Shakoor,” he said.