ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has deposited $2 billion in the Pakistan central bank, the South Asian nation’s finance minister said on Tuesday, in yet another boost for the ailing economy following the IMF bailout.
“I thank Saudi Arabia on behalf of prime minister and army chief,” finance minister Ishaq Dar said in a recorded video statement. “The economy, God willing, will lead to further improvement in future.”
Saudi Arabia had already pledged the money to Pakistan and waited for the much-awaited IMF deal to be announced before depositing it.
The financial support will shore up the depleting foreign exchange reserves at the central bank, which had dipped to cover barely a month of controlled imports.
Islamabad secured a last-gasped $3 billion IMF bailout late last month.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad, editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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