Pakistan repays $3.45bn to UAE, confirms central bank

Pakistan repaid the $3. 45 billion deposit to the United Arab Emirates, the State Bank of Pakistan confirmed on Friday. The central bank said the $1bn deposit was repaid to the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development on April 23 and $2. 45bn was repaid to the UAE “last week”. “This completes the repayment of total deposits of $3. 45 billion to UAE, ” said the SBP in a post on X. A senior official said earlier this month that Pakis­tan had decided to return $3. 5 billion in debt to the UAE before the end of this month. The official described the move as a cost the country was willing to bear to uphold “national dignity, ” even as it is set to significantly draw down foreign exch­ange reserves. These funds were part of external financing support extended by the UAE in 2019 to help stabilise Pakistan’s balance of payments. In a separate post on X a day earlier, the SBP said foreign reserves held by the country stood at $20. 63bn as of April 17. More to follow

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