Pakistan to receive $3 billion Saudi deposit in next few days — finance chief

KARACHI: Pakistan will receive $3 billion financial assistance pledged by Saudi Arabia in the next few days, an adviser to the Pakistani prime minister said on Sunday. 
During PM Imran Khan’s visit of the kingdom in October, Riyadh announced it would deposit $3 billion in the Pakistani central bank along with $1.2 billion facility to finance the trade of oil derivatives, according to Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). 
“That (release of $3 billion) was delayed for signing of an agreement which we have signed and sent. Today I have talked to the finance minister of Saudi Arabia for the transfer of amount as soon as possible,” Shaukat Tarin, Pakistani PM’s adviser on finance, told journalists at a ceremony in Karachi. 
The finance adviser, however, did not disclose at what rate the Saudi financial assistance would be available to Pakistan. 
The announcement of Saudi assistance had helped Pakistani rupee gain some lost ground, with the currency recovering by Rs5.3 against the United States dollar in the interbank market. 
Tarin’s statement comes at a time when Pakistan is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of $6 billion loan program secured in 2019. The talks will pave the way for the 6th review of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), which would enable Pakistan to draw $1 billion from the IMF. 
Despite a lapse of over a month, an outcome of talks between Pakistani authorities and IMF officials is still awaited. Tarin, however, said the uncertainty relating to the talks with IMF would soon be over. 
“Soon there will be good news as far as talks with IMF are concerned,” Tarin said, adding, “Yes, we said no to IMF on many things.” 
As IMF talks linger on, Pakistani rupee continues to remain under pressure and hit yet another all-time low against the US dollar on Friday to close at Rs175.73. 
The finance adviser conceded that the currency was deprecating due to the involvement of speculators in the market. 
“Yes, there is a speculation hand in the devaluation of rupee. Speculator is taking it up as per the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER),” Tarin responded to a question. 
“It should be at Rs167-166. Your rupee is under value at the moment as speculator is taking away Rs8-9,” he said, adding that speculators would be hit hard with the outcome of IMF talks. 
The finance minister said he had asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that the currency movement should be both ways, otherwise the speculator would play in the market.