ISLAMABAD: The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) today confirmed the rollover of $3 billion deposits for Pakistan. Now the State Bank of Pakistan can retain $3 billion of Saudi Arabia till Dec 5, 2023.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) made the announcement on Sunday (Sept 18) saying under the programme, the deposits are placed with the central bank, which will now be part of the $8.6 billion forex reserves of Pakistan.
“This reflects continuing strong and special relationship between the KSA and Pakistan,” the SBP wrote.
In November 2021, Pakistan signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia and received $3 billion cash deposits for one-year, to be returned on Dec 5, 2022. However, the Saudi Fund for Development has rolled over the deposits for one more year on the request of Pakistan government, the country will pay back this amount in Dec 2023.
During the last week, the country’s foreign exchange reserves with the central bank declined by 1.9% on a weekly basis. As of September 9, SBP’s foreign currency reserves were recorded at $8,624.0 million, down by $176 million compared with $8,799.9 million on September 2.
On Friday (Sept 16), the Pakistani rupee lost its value against the dollar for the 11th consecutive session, closing at 236.84 in the inter-bank. The dollar now stands only Rs3.1 short of the all-time high level of Rs239.94 on July 28, 2022.
With the rollover of Saudi cash deposits, the value of rupee is expected to improve next week against the US dollar in the inter-bank and open market.
