Salman Rafique calls on PM Shehbaz

Lahore: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Salman Rafique discussed the ongoing political and economic situation of the Pakistan on Friday.

During the meeting, overall political situation and matters related to development in Punjab came under discussion.

Earlier, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui and PM Shehbaz spoke about politics on Thursday.

Siddiqui thanked the PM Shehbaz for a $3 billion staff-level deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the time.

IMF has released $1.2 billion to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) as the first tranche of the stand-by agreement, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who made the announcement today. The stand-by deal was approved by the IMF executive board the previous day.

He said that the increase in Pakistan's foreign reserves over the last four days was due to Saudi Arabia's $2 billion deposit and the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) $1 billion contribution.

Dar said in a public speech that the remaining $1.8 will be distributed in two instalments after two reviews.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received today a deposit of $1 billion from United Arab Emirates. This inflow has further increased forex reserves held by SBP and will accordingly be reflected in the forex reserves position for the week ending 14July2023.

— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) July 12, 2023