Saudi Arabia has committed a fresh $3 billion deposit to Pakistan and extended an existing $5 billion facility through 2028, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb announced on the sidelines of the World Bank, IMF Spring Meetings 2026 in Washington. The move comes as Pakistan prepares to repay a $3.5 billion UAE loan this month, a repayment that would compress foreign exchange reserves and risk breaching targets under the country's IMF programme. The $5 billion Saudi deposit, previously subject to annual rollover, will now run on a multi-year term, removing the recurring refinancing risk that had made it a fragile pillar of Pakistan's reserve base. Together, the two facilities provide a direct buffer against the near-term reserve drawdown from the UAE repayment. Aurangzeb framed the Saudi support as reinforcing Pakistan's path to roughly $18 billion in reserves, equivalent to approximately 3.3 months of import cover, by fiscal year-end, a threshold embedded in the IMF programme's conditionality. Delivery of that target, and whether the fresh Saudi deposit is treated as hard reserves by the Fund, will be the key metrics to watch.
Iranian armed forces attacked a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, briefly halting traffic through the waterway. The strike threatens a fragile US-Iran arrangement and could push shipping insurance costs and oil prices higher.
The US has struck Iran, with President Trump citing an Iranian attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz as justification. The action raises immediate risks for global oil flows through one of the world's most critical shipping chokepoints.
The US struck ten Iranian targets on the second consecutive day of military action, putting a fragile ceasefire under serious pressure. The escalation raises immediate risks for Gulf shipping, global oil supply, and regional stability.
Venezuela's twin earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, have killed at least 164 people and injured 971, interim president Delcy Rodriguez confirmed Thursday. The quakes are the country's strongest since 1900, collapsing buildings across Caracas and prompting a state of emergency, with the death toll expected to rise as
