{"id":3854,"date":"2026-11-05T13:03:43","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T08:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3854"},"modified":"2026-11-05T13:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T08:03:43","slug":"saudi-arabia-extends-3bn-loan-rollover-as-pakistan-says-us-aid-not-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=3854","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia extends $3bn loan rollover as Pakistan says US aid not needed"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has confirmed that Saudi Arabia has extended the repayment of its $3 billion loan to Pakistan for a \u201creasonable period\u201d, saying the country can manage its external accounts without the proposed $10 billion US liquidity support facility.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking to the media after attending a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance at Parliament House on Wednesday, Aurangzeb said Pakistan\u2019s external position remained comfortable despite Washington\u2019s decision not to entertain its request for financial support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the liquidity support facility comes, fantastic. If it doesn\u2019t come, we will, Insha\u2019Allah, continue to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The minister confirmed that Riyadh had rolled over the $3 billion loan, which matured in October, but declined to specify the extension period.<\/p>\n

He said Pakistan\u2019s strategic relationship with Saudi Arabia meant there was no need to be concerned about the duration of the rollover.<\/p>\n

Aurangzeb said Pakistan had requested the $10 billion liquidity support facility in July when it was seeking access to international markets.<\/p>\n

However, the country secured market access in the first week of September, raising $3 billion through a Eurobond issuance against an order book of $6 billion.<\/p>\n

He said Pakistan would explore Eurobond and Panda bond issuances, along with dollar-settled rupee-linked bonds, to meet its financing requirements.<\/p>\n

The minister added that Pakistan did not require further financial assistance from Saudi Arabia, with foreign exchange reserves standing at $21.5 billion and providing around three months of import cover.<\/p>\n

The government and the State Bank of Pakistan were working to increase the cover to four months by the end of the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Debt repayments manageable<\/h3>\n

During the committee meeting, chaired by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal briefed lawmakers on the country\u2019s external financing requirements and debt obligations.<\/p>\n

He said Pakistan\u2019s gross external financing requirements for the current fiscal year stood at $21.5 billion, including $17.5 billion in principal repayments and interest obligations.<\/p>\n

Of the principal repayments, around $10.5 billion would be managed through rollovers by bilateral and commercial creditors, while net principal and interest payments would amount to approximately $11 billion.<\/p>\n

Bosal said the government had already repaid $5 billion during the first four months of the fiscal year.<\/p>\n

He added that the government was working to extend debt maturities, reduce interest expenses and lower the debt-to-GDP ratio.<\/p>\n

According to the finance secretary, the debt-to-GDP ratio declined from around 75% in 2023 to 68% in 2026, while annual debt growth slowed to 7.7% from 28%.<\/p>\n

Committee members, however, attributed part of the slower increase in the debt burden to the stability of the exchange rate, which had helped contain the growth of external debt.<\/p>\n

Bosal said consecutive primary budget surpluses over the past three years had also helped contain debt accumulation.<\/p>\n

Aurangzeb said the government was working to avoid concentrating debt maturities in a single year. He cited the issuance of a five-and-a-half-year Eurobond as part of efforts to spread repayment obligations.<\/p>\n

He also said the International Monetary Fund\u2019s board was tentatively scheduled to approve two loan tranches worth $1.2 billion in December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has confirmed that Saudi Arabia has extended the repayment of its $3 billion loan to Pakistan for a \u201creasonable period\u201d, saying the country can manage its external accounts without the proposed $10 billion US liquidity support facility. Speaking to the media after attending a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance at Parliament House on Wednesday, Aurangzeb said Pakistan\u2019s external position remained comfortable despite Washington\u2019s decision not to entertain its request for financial support. \u201cIf the liquidity support facility comes, fantastic. If it doesn\u2019t come,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3854\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}