Pakistan receives $300m from China

The country’s foreign exchange reserves were increased after Pakistan received $300 million from China, citing sources, ARY News reported on Friday.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has received the third and last disbursement today in its account amounting to $300 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

The Chinese bank has so far provided $1.3 billion loan to the central bank.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said in a Twitter message that the SBP would receive back third and last disbursement amounting to $300 million from ICBC today. He said the amount is out of Chinese Bank’s approved facility of 1.3 billion dollars, which was earlier repaid by Pakistan.

The finance minister said it will shore up forex reserves of Pakistan.

In another tweet, Dar said today that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has confirmed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it will provide support of $1 billion to Pakistan.

“UAE authorities have confirmed to IMF for their bilateral support of US $1 billion to Pakistan,” Dar said in a tweet today.

Ishaq Dar added that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was now “engaged for needful documentation for taking the said deposit from UAE authorities”.

The move will pave way for Pakistan to unlock the months-long delayed $1.1 billion IMF loan tranche to shore up the country’s struggling economy.