The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has decided to postpone and reschedule the debts that it is owed by Pakistan for development projects, official sources have said.
To that end, the fund on Thursday, March 3, signed a bilateral agreement with Pakistan’s Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs Mian Asad Hayauddin, who represented his country.
The signing took place in the presence of Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliki and senior officials from both sides.
This agreement reportedly comes in accordance with the G20 initiative, announcement during Saudi Arabia’s presidency for the year 2020, regarding the postponement of debts owed by the least developed and poorest countries.
Such a move was aimed to stimulate countries to take advantage of the financial space to increase social, health, and economic spending to face the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.
More than 33 developing countries around the world have benefited from the initiative to postpone the debts due from the soft loans financed by the SFD, claimed a report in the official Saudi Press Agency.
Meanwhile, the SFD delegation also met Pakistani Minister of Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan.
The two sides are said to have discussed the progress of the development projects financed by the fund in Pakistan.
These projects reportedly come within the fund’s support for various development sectors that contribute to promoting sustainable growth and achieving development goals.
The projects that the SFD contributes to financing through loans and grants in Pakistan amount to around SAR5 billion ($1.33 billion) to enhance social and economic development and achieve sustainability.