ISLAMABAD: The United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the top friendly countries, on Tuesday, deposited the second tranche of $1 billion into the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign currency reserves to help ease international payment pressure on Islamabad.
“Yes, we have received $1 billion from the UAE,” SBP spokesman Abid Qamar confirmed.
The financial assistance came following the signing of an agreement on Saturday last week between the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the SBP for depositing the remaining $2 billion out of the committed $3 billion to shore up the central bank’s reserves.
Earlier, the UAE had announced a $6-billion package for Pakistan in December 2018 including $3 billion in cash deposit and a credit line of another $3 billion for the supply of petroleum oil on deferred payment.
The UAE has provided the soft loan at an interest rate of 3%, Finance Minister Asad Umar disclosed last week. Abu Dhabi released the first tranche of $1 billion in January 2019.
“We will let you know as and when the third and last tranche arrives,” Qamar added.
