Critical financial support from UAE arrives as IMF board approves $3 billion bailout package PM thanks UAE president for $1 billion deposit, says UAE is ‘time-tested and brotherly country’ ISLAMABAD: A day after Pakistan received $2 billion from Saudi Arabia, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that the UAE had deposited $1 billion in Pakistan’s central bank, ahead of Islamabad getting a formal nod from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion bailout package. In March, the IMF asked Pakistan to secure financing assurances from friendly states and multilateral donors as a pre-condition to releasing a $1.1 billion tranche from an Extended Fund Facility program that Pakistan entered in 2019. Subsequently, China rolled over a $2 billion loan and Saudi Arabia and the UAE pledged $2 billion and $1 billion respectively. On Tuesday, Dar thanked the Saudi leadership after Riyadh deposited $2 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), saying it would increase the country’s reserves and lead to economic stability. “A short while ago, we got confirmation that our friend and brotherly country the United Arab Emirates has deposited $1 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan’s account,” Dar said in a video message. “Praise be to God, this will further improve the foreign exchange reserves of our state bank by $1 billion,” the finance minister said, adding that with Saudi Arabia’s deposit, Pakistan’s central bank reserves had grown by $3 billion in two days. Dar thanked the UAE leadership for standing with Pakistan while it faced one of its worst economic crisis over the past year. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to Twitter to thank UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, describing UAE as a “time-tested friend and brotherly country.” “We deeply acknowledge this kind gesture & consider it critical to our efforts to stabilize the economy,” PM Sharif wrote on Twitter. The critical support from the UAE comes as the IMF’s Executive Board approved a $3 billion bailout package for cash-starved Pakistan on a stand-by arrangement. Pakistan, suffering from a severe balance of payments crisis that has seen its reserve dip to historic lows and its currency plummet against the US dollar in recent months, is desperately in need of external financing. Saudi Arabia and UAE have provided much-needed aid to Pakistan and offered the South Asian country oil on deferred payments whenever it is faced with economic problems. Pakistan enjoys deep-rooted ties with both countries and cooperates with them in trade, defense, military, and various other sectors.