Dar meets officials from leading commercial banks in Dubai

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday held meetings with management of Dubai's leading commercial banks, which deal with Pakistan and the Ministry of Finance, reported APP.

In a tweet, Finance Division stated that the banks included Dubai Islamic Bank, Ajman Bank and Emirates NBD.

“The commercial banks reposed their confidence in current economic policies of the government and assured their continued support for Pakistan,” it said.

Last week, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Ameer Khurram Rathore had paid a courtesy call to Dar.

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The Finance Minister and the Ambassador discussed long-standing deep-rooted bilateral relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, which are strengthening with each passing day.

The recent visit of the prime minister of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia and the support extended by the leadership of Saudi Arabia were appreciated in the meeting.

Ambassador Ameer Khurram Rathore said that the recent visit of the Prime Minister of Pakistan has further enhanced the brotherly relations between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Finance Minister Dar stated that the Ministry of Finance will continue to engage itself in further strengthening brotherly and friendly ties relations between the two countries.

On November 9, Dar announced that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will receive $500 million from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) within this month.

In a tweet, the finance minister shared that the AIIB board approved the funding as "co-financing of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funded BRACE program for Pakistan."

"These funds will be received by State Bank of Pakistan within November 2022," he said.

The SBP had earlier received $1.5 billion from ADB on October 26, 2022, as a disbursement of loan for the government of Pakistan, giving its foreign exchange reserves a much-needed boost.

In September, SBP's reserves had increased as the central bank received the $1.2-billion tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).