Debt-ridden Pakistan loses Rs 70,000 crore to Saudi Arabia

- Prime Minister Imran Khan gets relief

- Saudi Arabia had earlier helped Pakistan with ત્રણ 3 billion in 2018

Islamabad: Pakistan has finally managed to get a bailout of ૨ 4.5 billion (approximately 40,000 crore Pakistani rupees) from Saudi Arabia. Pakistan's economy, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, has been supported by Saudi Arabia's 4.5 billion bailout.

The announcement was made by Information Minister Fawad Khan after Imran Khan returned from a three-day visit to the Gulf. He said in a tweet that the ત્રણ 3 billion provided by Saudi Arabia would be deposited in Pakistan's central bank and the remaining ૨ 1.5 billion would be used for refinancing petroleum products.

Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked Crown Prince Salman for his help at a time when Pakistan's economy was facing difficulties.

Pakistan's currency has depreciated by 12.5 per cent since May, mainly due to dollar smuggling in neighboring Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia also paid ત્રણ 3 billion in compensation to Pakistan in 2014 and promised to provide ત્રણ 3 billion in oil facilities to help Pakistan in its foreign exchange reserves.

However, as relations between the two countries deteriorated, Islamabad returned બે 2 billion of the ત્રણ 3 billion in aid to Saudi Arabia. Pakistan announced in June this year that Saudi Arabia would provide Pakistan with ઓ 1.5 billion worth of oil facilities annually.

Pakistan and the IMF signed a 6 billion deal in July 2015, but the deal fell through in January 2020 and was restored in March this year and went off track again in June. There were no discussions between the two parties between June and August.