The Islamic Republic of Pakistan on Wednesday received USD 1 billion from the UAE to boost its reserves, a day after Saudi Arabia transferred USD 2 billion to the country’s central bank.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced the transfer of funds on the eve of the board meeting of the IMF to approve a USD 3 billion Stand-by Agreement.

“We received confirmation some time ago that our brother country, our friend, the UAE has deposited USD 1 bn to the State Bank’s account. The Federal Reserves Bank has confirmed that this amount has been credited to the (SBP’s) account,” Dar said.

Dar further said the funds received from Saudi Arabia and the UAE this week had collectively “increased the country’s reserves by USD 3 billion in two days” which would reflect in the weekly update of foreign exchange reserves due to be issued on July 14.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also thanked UAE President Mohamed Bin Zayed for the USD 1 billion deposit. “As a time-tested friend and brotherly country, the UAE has always come forward to support Pakistan,” he said in a tweet.