Pakistan to repay $3.5B UAE loan, gets $5B support

The government has decided to fully repay its $3.5 billion loan to the United Arab Emirates within this month.

Islamabad: Pakistan has received assurances of more than $5 billion in support from friendly countries, according to Finance Ministry sources.

The government has decided to fully repay its $3.5 billion loan to the United Arab Emirates within this month.

The first installment of $45 million will be paid this week. Pakistan will also repay $2 billion to the UAE on April 17 and another $1 billion on April 23.

Earlier, the repayment schedule had included two installments this month and one in the following month.

The UAE loan dates back to 1996-1997, with additional loans of $2 billion taken in 2018 and $1 billion in 2023 for deposits.

The Finance Ministry confirmed that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves are sufficient to cover the repayments. Overall, Pakistan is expected to make total payments of $4.8 billion by June, all of which have already been arranged.