Saudi Arabia has demanded of the Pakistan government to return the US$ 1.5 billion that the Persian Gulf’s Arab monarchy had given to Pakistan as a “gift” in 2014. Now, Pakistan has to repay $2 billion with a mark up within 2 weeks.
Pakistan finance minister Ishaq Dar had then claimed that the amount was a gift and Pakistan would not be asked to repay that but almost all opposition parties had objected to that asking what Saudi monarchy had demanded from Pakistan to do in return of the gift in cash.
Many parties had said that Saudi Arabia wanted Pakistan’s support in Syrian war and the help against Iran but government disagreed with that.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had disclosed of the Saudi gift in March 2014. Another top official based in Lahore had said the money went into an account known as the Pakistan Development Fund set up to channel money from “friendly countries” like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“We have a promise of a total $3 billion, of which $1.5 billion has been received so far,” the second official said. “Most recently, we got $750 million from the Saudis,” he had said
