Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the minister of finance for Saudi Arabia, stated that the country is in discussions with the World Bank and other financial organizations to find “more innovative” ways to support Pakistan.
Speaking to Bloomberg TV from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Tuesday, Al-Jadaan said Saudi Arabia was working with multilateral institutions to provide support to Pakistan, Türkiye and Egypt.
“We are investing heavily in these countries, and we continue to look forwards to opportunities to invest,” said Al-Jadaan.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, reportedly directed to study options to increase KSA’s investments in Pakistan, which were earlier announced on August 25, 2022, to reach $10 billion, according to Saudi official media.
“The Royal Highness (Prime Minister Mohammad Bin Salman) made it very clear last week that we are looking to invest $10 billion in Pakistan. We have a deposit that we have just signed an extension for and are providing oil and derivatives to support their energy needs,” Al-Jadaan said in the interview.
“So, there is a lot of effort, but we want this to be collective. We are working with multilateral institutions like the World Bank to see how we can be more creative to provide that support,” he added.
The Saudi finance minister stated that the Kingdom is open to discussions about trade in currencies other than the US dollar.
Meanwhile, speaking at the WEF on Wednesday, Al-Jadaa also said the kingdom is changing the way it provides assistance to allies, shifting from previously giving direct grants and deposits unconditionally.
“We used to give direct grants and deposits without strings attached and we are changing that,” Reuters quoted him as saying. He added that Saudi Arabia was encouraging countries in the region to make reforms.
