Pakistan gets $6 billion from Saudis, still needs IMF loan
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has negotiated a $6 billion assistance package of loans and deferred payments from Saudi Arabia in hopes of resuscitating its flagging economy, struggling under the weight of a whopping $18 billion deficit.
Analysts say the Saudi infusion will allow Islamabad to breathe a little easier as it seeks a critical loan from the International Monetary Fund.
The deal was signed Tuesday by Pakistan's Finance Minister Asad Umar and his Saudi counterpart, Muhammad Abdullah Al-Jadaan, on the sidelines of an international investment forum underway in Riyadh.
It came as Pakistan's new Prime Minister Imran Khan attended the high-profile conference, despite calls from Pakistani human rights activists to boycott the venue in protest of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul — a slaying that has shocked the international community.
Read more: https://www.roanoke.com/news/wire_headlines/pakistan-gets-billion-from-saudis-still-needs-imf-loan/article_f1802e08-e399-5d13-bd78-47696e263104.html
