PM Imran Khan meets Saudi King Salman

RIYADH: Prime Minister Imran Khan held meeting with Saudi King Shah Salman Bin Abdul Aziz here on Tuesday.

The Pakistani delegation led by PM Imran called on Saudi King at the Al-Yamamah Palace.

During the meeting, they reviewed close relations between the two countries and latest developments in the region.

The Pakistani delegation include Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Finance Minister Asad Umar, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Minister for Industries Razaq Dawood.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, who arrived in Saudi Arabia to attend an investment conference last night, said the country was going through the worst debt crisis of its history.

In an interview with British news website Middle East Eye, before departing for the kingdom PM had said: "we’re desperate for possible Saudi loans to shore up Pakistan’s economy."

“The reason I feel I have to avail myself of this opportunity is because in a country of 210 million people right now we have the worst debt crisis in our history," PM was quoted as saying.

Loans from friendly countries

Khan was reported to have said: "Unless we get loans from friendly countries or the IMF (the International Monetary Fund) we actually won’t have in another two or three months enough foreign exchange to service our debts or to pay for our imports. So we’re desperate at the moment."

Imran Khan has been seeking alternatives to the tough conditions the IMF is likely to impose for loans.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has blamed the previous government’s policies for the ballooning current account deficit.

CPEC

To a question about China Pakistan Economic Corridor, Khan said that CPEC had given Pakistan an opportunity to really take-off because of the connectivity and investment.

“It has given Pakistan an opportunity to really take-off because of the connectivity and the investment that came in, the only investment and very cheap loans that came into Pakistan when no one else was giving us money,” Imran Khan said in an interview published in a British newspaper.

It is Prime Minister's second visit to Saudi Arabia in just over a month. Imran Khan last toured Saudi Arabia on September 18.

PM Imran’s participation in the conference "signifies our solidarity with the Kingdom in its efforts to become an emerging hub of international business and investment", the Foreign Office stated further.