Pakistan has formally sought a two-year extension of the Saudi Oil Facility (SOF) from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) following the expiry of the existing $1.2 billion arrangement, sources told The News.
“We have submitted a fresh request to KSA to extend the SOF until the completion of the ongoing IMF programme and are awaiting formal approval,” senior officials confirmed on Tuesday. The Ministry of Petroleum and the Ministry of Finance, however, declined to comment on the matter. With the current SOF set to expire next month, Islamabad has moved to secure its continuation.
Under the existing framework, Saudi Arabia provides $100 million for oil procurement, with monthly bills submitted for reimbursement. Meanwhile, a key delegation from Pakistan’s economic team is currently in Saudi Arabia, where discussions are also centred on deepening bilateral ties and promoting Saudi investment across various sectors of Pakistan’s economy under the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) framework.
If the SOF were put in place, Pakistan could receive another $1.2 billion from Saudi Arabia over the coming year, with the arrangement potentially running until mid of 2027.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s economic managers are running against time as only 12 days are left for securing the rollover of $2 billion deposits from the UAE lying into the State Bank of Pakistan. Pakistan has got one-month extension as the original deadline of $1 billion was due on January 17, the second $1 billion was due on January 23, 2026. The UAE granted one-month extension. Now the Ministry of Finance has made a fresh request to secure the rollover of one-year period till Feb 16, 2027.
“We have made a request to the UAE and are quite hopeful that both sides will move towards settlement till the deadline,” one top official of the Finance Division confirmed to The News on Tuesday night. He said that parleys with the UAE are underway and positive outcome is expected. If Pakistan remained unable to secure the rollover, then Islamabad will have to repay $2 billion within the ongoing month.
Source: The News
