Imran Khan visits Saudi Arabia in his first overseas trip, the new Pakistani premier minister is going to find the financial aid, CNN reports. Last month, Pakistan’s finance minister Asad Umar said an IMF rescue was a fallback option and that the government was exploring other avenues for assistance.
Pakistans’s PM included his finance minister to the delegation for Saudi visit. According to Pakistan’s foreign office statements, Mr Khan would discuss “issues of bilateral interest” with King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Imran Khan’s party has inherited the widest budget deficit in years and an impending foreign currency crisis. His first budget marks a definitive shift away from the tax cuts offered at the end of the previous Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz administration.
It is not the first time when Pakistani rupee needs a support from Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom have already loaned Pakistan $1.5bn (£1.14bn) in 2014, just six months after Islamabad’s last bailout from the IMF. The money was used to strengthen Pakistan’s rupee currency.
Pakistan’s finance minister said:
“The warnings came long ago: we are now at the precipice of a crisis. If our reserves fall any further, we can imagine what the impact on the common man will be.”
In an effort to stabilise the Pakistani rupee and cut the current account deficit, Mr Umar announced that tariffs would be raised on 5,000 goods, including powerful cars, more expensive mobile phones and jewellery.
