Pakistan: Following meetings between Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani as well as other officials, the Qatar Investment Agency (QIA) announced plans to invest $3 billion in various sectors of the Pakistani economy.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan criticized Shehbaz Sharif for traveling to Qatar with a "begging bowl" as the South Asian country grapples with an economic crisis due to low forex reserves and high inflation.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported this week that the country's foreign exchange reserves fell from about $16 billion in February to $7.9 billion in August. Pakistan's economy also experienced its highest ever inflation last week at 42.3 percent.
Khan criticized the prime minister for traveling abroad while the country was suffering heavy rains and subsequent floods, which have devastated the country since June.
According to Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority, the floods have killed more than 900 people and left nearly 50,000 people homeless, mostly in Balochistan province. About 126 people have died in the floods since Monday.
In his speech, the former prime minister also reiterated his criticism of the US, declaring that Islamabad would never again participate in a conflict on the side of the "superpower".
Khan claimed that between 2001 and 2021, more than 80,000 Pakistanis were killed in the "war on terror" as US drones reportedly struck terrorist targets in Pakistan's KP province.
Khan said he approached Moscow for "discounting crude", something the US disagreed with, and that is why he was removed from power in a parliamentary vote in April.
The prime minister was the target of Khan's political attack on Wednesday, the last day of Sharif's two-day visit to Qatar.
Sharif's visit to Qatar comes at a time when Islamabad is looking for billions of dollars of foreign investment to boost a faltering national economy. SBP's acting governor Murtaza Syed said this week that the money sought from foreign governments would also help revive the $6 billion IMF Financial Assistance Program (IMF).
The IMF last month also approved a $1.1 billion loan to Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The IMF Executive Board has not yet approved this option.
The loan package is a component of the $6 billion in aid Pakistan received from the IMF in 2019, but was put on hold when Islamabad was unable to meet the requirements of the Washington-based lender.
State Bank of Pakistan's acting governor Syed said $4 billion had already been received from "friendly countries", including $2 billion from Qatar, $1 billion from Saudi Arabia and $1 billion from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Dollar investment is involved.
The announcement was made by a top SBP official ahead of Sharif's visit to Doha.
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