Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met on Tuesday with visiting Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al Khuraiji, and discussed regional and international development.
They also discussed bilateral relations and ways to enhance and develop them in various fields in a way that achieves the aspirations of the two countries and the two peoples.
Al-Khuraiji is on an official visit to Pakistan and also met with the country’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, Saudi Press Agency reported.
In July, Pakistan received $2 billion in financial support from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia deposited the funds with the Central Bank of Pakistan, boosting foreign exchange reserves when Pakistan had been left with barely enough to cover a month of controlled imports.
Saudi Arabia pledged the funds in April, but had held off depositing the money with the State Bank of Pakistan until it was sure that the IMF bailout would be forthcoming.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is also in discussions with Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold about the potential purchase of equity in the Reko Diq copper and gold mine in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.