Pakistan, Saudi Arabia ink over $1bn oil sector agreement

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia on Thursday signed an agreement worth more than $1 billion in the oil sector, through the Saudi Development Fund (SDF).

A day earlier, the kingdom’s ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf Al-Maliki was quoted as saying by a Saudi news channel: “The coming days will witness the signing of an agreement between the Kingdom and Pakistan through the Saudi Development Fund (SDF), with an increase of one billion dollars for oil derivatives.”

Taking to Twitter, the Economic Affairs Division confirmed that an agreement worth $1 billion has been sighed with SFD to finance oil derivatives.

Dr Niaz, speaking on the occasion, revealed that the pact was an extension of previously signed agreements in 2019 and 2021 valued at $4.44 billion to finance oil derivatives in Pakistan.

Since its establishment, he said, the SFD had supported more than 40 projects and programmes in different development sectors valued at approximately $1.4 billion.

‘All the programmes were aimed at helping the country achieve its sustainable development goals and build a prosperous future,” he added.

For his part, SFD CEO said that the agreement emphasised the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to continue supporting the brotherly Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Saudi Arabia plans to invest more in Pakistan

Earlier this week, Saudi crown prince directed the authorities to study augmenting the country's investments in Pakistan to reach $10 billion, giving a major boost to Pakistan’s efforts to stabilise its deteriorating economy.

As per a report published by the Saudi Press Agency, the Saudi crown prince also directed SFD to consider increasing the amount of deposits by $2 billion to reach $5 billion, confirming the Kingdom's position supportive of Pakistan’s economy and its people amid the worsening currency crisis.

Last month, the Saudi fund extended its term for the $3 billion deposit in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) which was set to mature on December 5.