ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has extended a $3 billion deposit with the State Bank of Pakistan for a “reasonable period”, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said, without specifying the new maturity date.
Speaking to reporters at Parliament House, Aurangzeb said he had held a “very good meeting” with Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan and that Pakistan did not need to worry about the duration of the extension.
He said Pakistan did not currently require additional financial support from Saudi Arabia, adding that the two countries’ strategic relationship remained strong.
The minister said Pakistan was working to increase its foreign exchange cover from the current three months of imports to four months by the end of the current fiscal year.
Saudi Arabia has provided financial support to Pakistan for several years. In October 2021, it placed $3 billion with the State Bank to support the country’s foreign exchange reserves. The deposit was extended several times, while Riyadh provided a further $2 billion in June 2023, taking the total Saudi deposits to $5 billion.
Saudi Arabia also extended deferred-payment facilities for oil purchases. In April 2026, it announced an additional $3 billion deposit.
Pakistan plans annual eurobond repayments
Aurangzeb said Pakistan had to repay about 1.5 billion euros in bonds each year and that the government wanted to ensure repayments did not create difficulties for any future administration.
He said the government had structured a $3 billion eurobond issuance with a five-and-a-half-year tranche to prevent repayments from bunching up in a particular year and to spread the burden into the next fiscal year.
The minister said Pakistan had received an order book of $6 billion for the issuance. If that materialised, it would provide liquidity support; otherwise, the country would continue pursuing access to international markets through further eurobond and panda bond issuances, as well as dollar-settled, rupee-linked bonds.
Aurangzeb said he had met around 80 to 90 institutional investors in Bangkok, adding that investors were looking beyond Pakistan’s current International Monetary Fund programme.
He also said Pakistan was exploring financing opportunities with the US Export-Import Bank and the US International Development Finance Corporation, describing these as financing and credit support for exporters and investors rather than liquidity support for the sovereign.
IMF board visit expected in December
Responding to a question, Aurangzeb said the IMF board could visit Pakistan in December, but no date had been finalised.
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