Shaukat Tarin reveals details of $3 billion funds Pakistan received from Saudi Arabia

• Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin shares details of funds received from Saudi Arabia.
• Says funds have been deposited by Saudi Arabia at 4% interest rate.
• Timeframe for loan's return is one year.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin on Friday disclosed the details of the agreement under which Pakistan had received funds worth $3 billion from Saudi Arabia, according to a written statement issued by the Senate Secretariat.

A much-awaited $3 billion tranche had been deposited in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on December 4, 2021, under an agreement signed between the central bank of Pakistan and the Saudi Fund for Development.

The details were shared in response to a query, made in the Senate session held on January 25, which along with a few other questions had been deferred.

"Will the Minister of Finance and Revenue be pleased to state the details of agreement under which Pakistan received $3 billion from Saudi Arabia in December 2021, indicating also the interest rate and the time frame and the number of tranches fixed for the return of the said loan," the statement cited the question asked by Senator Mushtaq Ahmed.

It was followed with the details sought by the senator, according to which, the funds were deposited at a 4% interest rate, to be paid quarterly.

Moreover, the time frame for this loan's return is one year and it has to be paid in a single tranche under the "Rules and Laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."

Later, during the Senate session, the house was informed that Pakistan will start utilising the Saudi oil facility on deferred payment by the next month.

"We have tried keeping the entire burden of international petroleum price hike from falling on the people," Tarin said during the question hour.

He said that the government has provided relief to the masses by lowering the sales tax and petroleum development levy.

The minister further stated that the increase in the foreign exchange reserves of the SBP during the past year would help contain the pressure on the rupee.

He said that Pakistan's exports and remittances have boosted with a fall of $1.5 billion in the trade deficit.

In his response to a supplementary question, Tarin said that Pakistan has fulfilled 27 out of 28 conditions put forward by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

"We have achieved our targets, hoping that the country will come out of the grey list in the next FATF review," he said.