KARACHI: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will decide the quantum and areas of Saudi investment in a meeting with the Kingdom’s delegation to Pakistan, which is due to arrive in the country during the first week of October, said Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, Asad Umar, speaking exclusively to Arab News.
The minister rebuffed recent media reports that claimed Riyadh would “invest $10 billion in Pakistan,” dismissing the impression that the volume of investment had been ascertained yet.
“The prime minister’s visit was meant to make agreements at the highest level with the King of Saudi Arabia and build a stronger relationship. In principle, only verbal discussions have taken place so far,” he added.
Umar noted: “We have discussed trade-related issues, foreign direct investment, visa fees, and issues faced by our laborers.”
The finance minister also dispelled the notion that Pakistan was facing a financial emergency. “Pakistan is not in an emergency situation that requires it to rush to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to seek a bailout,” he maintained.
“We have neither stopped imports nor imposed financial sanctions,” said the minister. However, he emphasized that it was important to be prudent while taking economic decisions.
“We need to take well-measured decisions. As a situation emerges, we take steps to manage it. We don’t want to take decisions in emergency.”
The staff mission of the IMF is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Sept. 27 to engage with the Pakistani authorities. “We are in discussion with them, but this is not to negotiate for a loan. Our purpose is to do our homework, in case we want to approach them at some stage,” the minister clarified.
Responding to a question about managing the balance of payment deficit, Umar said: “We are eliminating the root cause of this problem, and that root cause is fiscal deficit. We have done that through the recent finance bill which will reduce our cost of import.”
He said that during his visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan’s prime minister discussed measures for trade enhancement and investment. “These are measures which will help fill the external financing gap,” he noted.
He also said Pakistan was constantly in touch with international commercial markets and banks for financing.
About the measures to increase the country’s exports to ease its external payment obligations, the finance minister said the issue had been discussed in detail with the Chinese.
“During the upcoming international trade exhibition, which will be attended by the prime minister as one of the chief guests in China on Nov. 4 and 5, we will discuss items line by line so that they can give us trade concessions to increase exports to China.”
“Similarly, when the Saudis will come, decisions will be made here in Pakistan about trade enhancement and investment,” he added, hoping that these steps would mitigate the balance of payments crisis.
The government is also planning to float overseas, dollar-based saving certificates for Pakistanis living abroad. The finance minister said the amount of issue would be decided at the time of floating these certificates.
“We will float them in October, but it will not be a one-time issue. We will be floating these certificates periodically for overseas Pakistanis,” said Umar.
![]()
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan will soon finalize volume, areas of investment, Finance Minister Asad Umar tells Arab News
Saudi Arabia, Pakistan will soon finalize volume, areas of investment, Finance Minister Asad Umar tells Arab News
- A Saudi delegation will visit Pakistan in the first week of October to discuss trade enhancement and investment visas
- Prime Minister Imran Khan, during his Saudi visit, discussed trade, foreign direct investment, visa fees, and issues faced by our labor class
Mexico’s Sheinbaum to hold a support rally following major protests
MEXICO CITY: Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has organized a large rally in the country’s capital on Saturday to shore up her support following a month of political pushback and major protests.
The killing of Mayor Carlos Manzo in restive Michoacan state had sparked two days of demonstrations in November with protesters setting fire to public buildings.
Just weeks later, thousands marched through the streets of Mexico City to protest drug violence and the government’s security policies. That was followed by the abrupt departure of the country’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, in December over reported disagreements with Sheinbaum’s administration on crime policy.
Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny.
“We close this 2025 with the historic celebration of seven years of transformation,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X.
Sheinbaum took office in 2024, following the six-year tenure of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both leaders representing the left-wing Morena party.
“Let us together defend the people’s achievements ... in the Zocalo of Mexico City,” Sheinbaum added, referring to the capital’s main public square where weeks ago protesters criticizing her government’s security policies had clashed with police.
Though Sheinbaum has seen high approval ratings in her first year of power, they dipped slightly in recent months, easing from 74 percent in October to 71 percent at the start of December, according to the Polls MX survey summary.
- ‘Reshape the narrative’ -
Analysts told AFP the president not only faces scrutiny from her political opponents and members of the public, but from within her own party.
This gathering in the Zocalo, the country’s main square, is an “attempt at internal support, to reshape the narrative, to call for unity,” said political analyst Pablo Majluf.
Political columnist Hernan Gomez Bruera told AFP that Sheinbaum is “an incredibly efficient president” who likes to be in control and demands a lot from her team. But she is also “very thin-skinned” and “has difficulty dealing with dissent,” he added.
Despite a slight slip in poll numbers over the past few months, the leftist leader, who is Mexico’s first woman president, is still benefiting from a decline in poverty levels that began under her predecessor.
Sheinbaum has also won praise among her supporters for keeping at bay US President Donald Trump’s threats of high trade tariffs and military action on Mexican soil against drug cartels.
Sheinbaum met with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington on Friday to discuss trade on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by all three countries. She said on X following the meeting that the three nations maintain a “very good relationship.”
The killing of Mayor Carlos Manzo in restive Michoacan state had sparked two days of demonstrations in November with protesters setting fire to public buildings.
Just weeks later, thousands marched through the streets of Mexico City to protest drug violence and the government’s security policies. That was followed by the abrupt departure of the country’s attorney general, Alejandro Gertz, in December over reported disagreements with Sheinbaum’s administration on crime policy.
Sheinbaum called for supporters to gather in the capital on the weekend in what analysts said was an attempt to demonstrate her support in the face of growing scrutiny.
“We close this 2025 with the historic celebration of seven years of transformation,” Sheinbaum said in a post on X.
Sheinbaum took office in 2024, following the six-year tenure of her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, with both leaders representing the left-wing Morena party.
“Let us together defend the people’s achievements ... in the Zocalo of Mexico City,” Sheinbaum added, referring to the capital’s main public square where weeks ago protesters criticizing her government’s security policies had clashed with police.
Though Sheinbaum has seen high approval ratings in her first year of power, they dipped slightly in recent months, easing from 74 percent in October to 71 percent at the start of December, according to the Polls MX survey summary.
- ‘Reshape the narrative’ -
Analysts told AFP the president not only faces scrutiny from her political opponents and members of the public, but from within her own party.
This gathering in the Zocalo, the country’s main square, is an “attempt at internal support, to reshape the narrative, to call for unity,” said political analyst Pablo Majluf.
Political columnist Hernan Gomez Bruera told AFP that Sheinbaum is “an incredibly efficient president” who likes to be in control and demands a lot from her team. But she is also “very thin-skinned” and “has difficulty dealing with dissent,” he added.
Despite a slight slip in poll numbers over the past few months, the leftist leader, who is Mexico’s first woman president, is still benefiting from a decline in poverty levels that began under her predecessor.
Sheinbaum has also won praise among her supporters for keeping at bay US President Donald Trump’s threats of high trade tariffs and military action on Mexican soil against drug cartels.
Sheinbaum met with Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Washington on Friday to discuss trade on the sidelines of the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by all three countries. She said on X following the meeting that the three nations maintain a “very good relationship.”
Latest updates
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.