PAKISTAN: UAE

Headline

Pakistani Prime Minister Sharif in UAE on two-day visit.

Intro

UAE agrees to provide additional $1bn and to roll over existing $2bn loan.

Story

span style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; color: inherit;" lang="EN-US">STORY:   Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday (January 12) on a two-day official visit at the invitation of the UAE president.
Shortly after his arrival in capital Abu Dhabi, Sharif met Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, on what is his third visit to UAE after assuming the post of Prime Minister.
Immediately after the meeting,  a statement from the Pakistani Prime Minister’s office said the United Arab Emirates had agreed to roll over the existing loan of $2 billion and provide an additional loan of $1 billion.
The Statement said the UAE President had agreed to the loan extension and the new loan which is desperately needed as Pakistan struggles to recover from devastating floods this summer and a dire economic crisis brewing in the country.
“Both sides agreed to deepen the investment cooperation, stimulate partnerships and enable investment integration opportunities between the two countries,” the statement said.
According to reports Pakistan’s foreign currency reserves have plummeted to $5.5 billion — enough money for just under a month of imports.
However, the UAE government did not immediately acknowledge the rollover of the loan and the granting of the additional billion.
A statement just said the two leaders discussed “the historical relations between the UAE and Pakistan and ways to enhance joint cooperation and expand its horizons in a way that serves the mutual interests of the two countries.”
The floods destroyed more than 2 million homes and caused more than $30 billion in damage.
A day earlier, Sharif told a news conference that several countries and some of the world’s institutions have pledged $9.7 billion to help Pakistan rebuild from the summer’s catastrophic flood that killed 1,739 people.