UAE crown prince Sheikh Mohammed arrives in Islamabad

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: United Arab Emirates (UAE) Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is expected to officially announce a support package of about $6.2 billion for Pakistan during his visit to the country today (Sunday).

Reportedly, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan welcomed the crown prince at the Nur Khan airbase, where an artillery unit honored him with a 21-gun salute, and the PM himself drove him to the Prime Minister House in Islamabad where he has been given a guard of honour.

Moreover, all relevant terms and conditions have been finalised before UAE inducts $3 billion cash into the economy of Pakistan and another $3.2 billion worth of oil supplies on deferred payments for one year.

In December 2018, UAE officially announced that it would assist Pakistan to help it overcome international payment crisis and to avoid the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which contained strict terms and conditions.

“UAE has announced its intention to deposit US$3 billion (equivalent to AED11 billion) in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to support the financial and monetary policy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,” the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) said in a statement published by WAM news agency.

A high-level delegation will accompany the crown prince. This is the third interaction between the leadership of Pakistan and UAE in less than three months, which is a testimony to the special nature of brotherly relations between the two countries.

UAE is Pakistan’s largest trading partner in the Middle East and a major source of investments in education, health, energy and infrastructure development. It is home to more than 1.6 million expatriate community which contributes around 4.5 billion dollars annually to the GDP.

Both countries have been working to transform the existing relations into a “Long-Term Strategic Economic Partnership”, as it was agreed between the two leaders during PM Imran Khan’s visit to UAE on November 18th in 2018.

Moreover, the country to recover from its economic crisis has been supported by another $1.5 billion trade finance from the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

Earlier, Pakistan received $2 billion in cash from Saudi Arabia at an interest rate of 3.18 percent, whereas the third tranche of $1 billion is due in the first week of February.

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