KEY POINTS
- Saudi Fund for Development has funded about $1.2 billion in Pakistan projects
- Saudi Arabia remains the top remittance source for Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have reaffirmed their commitment to enhance strategic partnership, as Islamabad seeks to strengthen ties with one of its most important development and financing partners in the world.
The resolve was expressed during a meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the CEO of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) in Washington, according to the finance division statement.
SFD says it has funded more than 18 development projects and programmes worth about $1.2 billion in Pakistan, alongside over $533 million in grants since 1976.
“Senator Aurangzeb met Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Marshad … where he reaffirmed the strategic partnership between Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the finance division said in a statement after the meeting between the Pakistani finance minister and SFD CEO.
The meeting was part of the finance minister’s visit to Washington for the IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings, where Pakistan is advocating for investment, climate-resilient development, and support for its reform agenda aimed at stabilising growth and strengthening the external sector.
During talks with Al-Marshad, the focus included key infrastructure priorities such as the M-6 highway and the ML-1 railway line upgrade, alongside initiatives in skills development and digital infrastructure.
These areas align with Pakistan’s broader efforts to enhance logistics, productivity, and public service delivery.
The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) highlighted its ongoing involvement in Pakistan through projects in health, hydropower, and transport.
In 2024 alone, SFD signed 17 loan agreements totaling SR3.7 billion (around $985 million) across 13 countries, demonstrating its continued capacity to support partner economies.
The meeting underscored the long-standing development partnership between Pakistan and SFD, which combines development financing with short-term balance-of-payments assistance. SFD’s work in Pakistan spans social infrastructure, transport, energy, water, and sanitation sectors.
The Kingdom has also supported Pakistan with a $3 billion State Bank deposit, repeatedly rolled over, most recently in December 2024, and deferred oil payments of about $1.2 billion under a facility agreed in February 2025 to ease near-term pressures.
Meanwhile, about 2.64 million Pakistanis live and work in Saudi Arabia, and the Kingdom is the largest single source of workers’ remittances to Pakistan.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, remittances from Saudi Arabia totaled around $737 million in August 2025 and $751 million in September 2025, the highest among all source countries.
