Saudi financial assistance will stabilize Pakistan’s economy: Shaukat Tarin 

Islamabad: Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin Wednesday said that Saudi financial support package of 4.2 billion dollars is for one year and will prove to be useful especially when rupee is under pressure and international oil prices are soaring.  

Addressing a news conference along with Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar in Islamabad on Wednesday, he said the package includes three billion dollars in deposits with State Bank of Pakistan and 1.2 billion dollars’ worth of oil supplies on deferred payments.

The Adviser said that during talks in Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman expressed his happiness to extend the support to Pakistan. He said the Saudi Crown Prince said Pakistan holds a special place for the Kingdom.

Responding to a question, Shaukat Tarin emphatically stated that the Saudi package has no connection with the IMF program. He was confident that the IMF will also revive its loan facility for Pakistan saying it will have a positive impact on our market.

In his remarks, Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar said that our oil prices are lower in the world except the ones producing oil.

To keep the prices on the lower side, he said we have given tax exemption of four hundred and fifty billion rupees.

Hammad Azhar said it is expected that the commodity prices will see declining trend in the next six months and the benefit will be passed on to the masses.