ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has offered Pakistan $3 billion to help stave off a balance of payments crisis, the Pakistani foreign office said on Tuesday.
Pakistan said Saudi Arabia will place a deposit of $3 billion for one year. The finance ministers of both countries signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect during the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ongoing visit to the Kingdom.
The Kingdom has also offered a one-year deferred payment facility of up to $3 billion for the import of oil.
Pakistan faces a severe balance of payments crisis, with foreign exchange reserves falling to just over $14.6 billion, as of Oct. 12, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. The Pakistani rupee has also lost more than 20 percent of its value since the beginning of this year.
Pakistan’s balance of payments crisis is rooted in the country’s trade imbalance; the country’s oil and energy imports make up nearly a fifth of the import bill contributing to this imbalance. A deferred payment facility like the one offered by the Kingdom should help ease the pressure on the Pakistani economy in the short term.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, along with his foreign, finance, and information ministers, is on a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Future Investment Initiative conference, also known as “Davos in the desert.”
Earlier, speaking at the conference in Riyadh, Khan invited attendees to invest in the country and reap benefits.
During the visit, Khan also met with King Salman and Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman.
The Saudi Government has assured the Pakistani leadership of Saudi Arabia’s commitment to invest in a petroleum refinery in Pakistan, and explore other investment opportunities in the mining sector as well.
Furthermore, the crown prince has agreed to reduce the visa fee for Pakistani workers coming to the Kingdom, in an effort to enhance the Pakistani workforce in the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia offers Pakistan $3bn to ease crisis
Saudi Arabia offers Pakistan $3bn to ease crisis
- Pledges deferred oil payments of up to $3 billion
- Pakistan currently facing severe balance of payments crisis, with foreign exchange reserves falling to just over $14.6 billion
Pakistan to launch 5G pilot in some cities next week — IT minister
- Government says 5G services to reach provincial and federal capitals within six to eight months
- Rollout follows $507 million spectrum auction aimed at expanding mobile broadband capacity
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will begin pilot launches of fifth-generation (5G) mobile services in some cities next week, Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja said on Thursday, marking the country’s first concrete timeline for introducing the next generation of high-speed mobile Internet.
The announcement follows a spectrum auction earlier this week in which Pakistan sold 480 megahertz (MHz) of telecom frequencies for about $507 million, a key step toward deploying 5G networks in a country of more than 240 million people where most mobile infrastructure still runs on fourth-generation (4G) technology.
Pakistan has more than 190 million mobile phone users, making it one of the world’s largest telecom markets by population, but the rollout of 5G has been delayed for years by regulatory hurdles, economic constraints and spectrum-allocation issues.
“I was very happy to hear the day before yesterday that some of our operators are ready for 5G services,” Khawaja told a news conference with telecom operators in Islamabad.
“So, its pilot will start in some cities next week. And in the next six to eight months, in five of our capitals of all provinces and in the federal capital, 5G services will be available to all of you people.”
Khawaja described Internet connectivity as increasingly critical for economic activity, industry and national security, saying reliable and resilient digital infrastructure would play a central role in Pakistan’s future growth.
Officials have said the government is also encouraging wider adoption of 5G-compatible devices to support the transition to faster mobile networks, noting that a large share of phones used in Pakistan are locally manufactured while premium models are imported.
