Pakistan receives $122 million in aid from Saudi Arabia
On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed to a deal with Saudi Arabia that will see $122 million come into Pakistan from the Kingdom this year (ET). Sharif and Chief of Army Staff Gen. Raheel Sharif are in Riyadh to attend the “North Thunder” 20-nation military exercise. The deal, officiated by Pakistani Economic Affairs Division Secretary Tariq Bajwa and Vice Chairman of the Saudi Fund for Development Yousaf Ibrahim al Bassam, consists of five grant agreements totaling $67 million and a separate loan valued at $55 million. A relatively low sum, the deal may nonetheless indicate growing economic ties – on top of increased military cooperation via the 34-nation anti-terrorism coalition – between the two nations. The $122 million is the largest aid package Islamabad has received from Riyadh in the last five years.