ISLAMABAD: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday conveyed his warm wishes on Eid Al-Fitr to Prime Minister Imran Khan and shared his condolences with the Pakistani leader on the tragic PIA plane crash in Karachi that claimed 97 lives.
During their phone call, the two leaders discussed matters related to the global outbreak of COVID-19, and prospects of enhanced bilateral cooperation to address the situation.
“While thanking the Crown Prince for pardoning Pakistani prisoners and timely repatriation of Pakistani citizens from UAE, the Prime Minister lauded the steps being taken by the UAE authorities to curtail the spread of the pandemic,” said an official handout circulated by the PM Office.
“The Prime Minister underscored that without immediate, coordinated and comprehensive actions to create fiscal space, the developing world may have to contend with dire social, political and economic consequences of the pandemic,” the statement read.
Khan also highlighted his call for “Global Initiative on Debt Relief” for developing countries to help mitigate such consequences and to shore up economies.
He mentioned the worsening human rights situation in Indian-administered Kashmir and expressed his concern over the “demonization of Muslims in India in the context of Covid-19,” the statement added.
Abu Dhabi crown prince offers condolences to Pakistan over plane crash
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Abu Dhabi crown prince offers condolences to Pakistan over plane crash
- PM Khan thanked the UAE leader for timely repatriation of Pakistani citizens
- The premier also reiterated his call for debt relief for developing nations amid the coronavirus pandemic
Pakistan reports current account surplus in Jan. owing to improved trade, remittances
- Pakistan’s exports crossed the $3 billion mark in Jan. as the country received $3.5 billion in remittances
- Last month, IMF urged Pakistan to accelerate pace of structural reforms to strengthen economic growth
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded a current account surplus of more than $120 million in January, the country’s finance adviser said on Tuesday, attributing it to improved trade balance and remittance inflows.
Pakistan’s exports rebounded in January 2026 after five months of weak performance, rising 3.73 percent year on year and surging 34.96 percent month on month, according to data released by the country’s statistics bureau.
Exports crossed the $3 billion mark for the first time in January to reach $3.061 billion, compared to $2.27 billion in Dec. 2025. The country received $3.5 billion in foreign remittances in Jan. 2026.
Khurram Schehzad, an adviser to the finance minister, said Pakistan reported a current account surplus of $121 million in Jan., compared to a current account deficit of $393 million in the same month last year.
“Improved trade balance in January 2026, strong remittance inflows, and sustained momentum in services exports (IT/Tech) continue to reinforce the country’s external account position,” he said on X.
Pakistan has undergone a difficult period of stabilization, marked by inflation, currency depreciation and financing gaps, and international rating agencies have acknowledged improvements after Islamabad began implementing reforms such as privatizing loss-making, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and ending subsidies as part of a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program.
Late last month, the IMF urged Pakistan to accelerate the pace of these structural reforms to strengthen economic growth.
Responding to questions from Arab News at a virtual media roundtable on emerging markets’ resilience, IMF’s director of the Middle East and Central Asia Jihad Azour said Islamabad’s implementation of the IMF requirements had been “strong” despite devastating floods that killed more than 1,000 people and devastated farmland, forcing the government to revise its 4.2 percent growth target to 3.9 percent.
“What is important going forward in order to strengthen growth and to maintain the level of macroeconomic stability is to accelerate the structural reforms,” he said at the meeting.
Azour underlined Pakistan’s plans to privatize some of the SOEs and improve financial management of important public entities, particularly power companies, as an important way for the country to boost its capacity to cater to the economy for additional exports.
“This comes in addition to the effort that the authorities have made in order to reform their tariffs, which will allow the private sector of Pakistan to become more competitive,” the IMF official said.
