Qatar to Invest in Pakistan

The Qatar Investment Authority’s announcement comes as Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif visits Doha on an official trip.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has announced it aims to spend $3 billion on various commercial and investment sectors in Pakistan, which is currently facing a dire economic crisis, according to a statement released by Qatar’s Amiri Diwan.

This announcement was made during a visit to Doha by Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif, who held official talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani after a meeting with the QIA on Tuesday(23rd).

“This is very good and more than what we needed,”A Senior Pakistani Minister said

QIA is interested in airports, seaport terminals, LNG-fired power plants, solar energy and shares in the stock markets.

Pakistan is currently dealing with a serious economic recession and faces a balance of payments crisis, with foreign reserves having dropped as low as $7.8bn, barely enough for more than a month of imports.

The country is also contending with a widening current account deficit, depreciation of the rupee against the United States dollar and inflation that hit more than 24 percent in July.

Pakistan's representative for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also said last week that the IMF’s executive board would meet on August 29 to decide on resuming a stalled $6bn loan facility for Islamabad.