Riyadh (UNA-OIC) – Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has directed to provide a $20 million grant to cover part of Sudan’s financing gap at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s initiative aims to deal with the arrears and reduce the debt burden on the Republic of Sudan.
This was announced during the Kingdom’s speech delivered by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, who led the Saudi delegation at the International Conference to Support the Sudanese Transition, held in Paris on Monday, with the participation of Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammad Al-Jadaan and presence of representatives of more than 40 countries.
At the outset of his speech, the Saudi foreign minister conveyed greetings of King Salman, who sincerely wished every success for the conference. He also conveyed King Salman’s thanks to French President Emmanuel Macron for holding this summit to support Sudan.
“Today, our common goal is to support the transitional phase in Sudan towards a bright and prosperous future. In this regard, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced, on 13 April 2019, its full support for the Sudanese people’s decision with regard to their future and all measures taken in the interest of the Sudanese people. At that time, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques directed to provide a package of humanitarian and development aid,” Prince Faisal said.
The foreign minister pointed out that Saudi Arabia was among the first states, within the framework of the Friends of Sudan, in supporting this transitional phase in Sudan. He added that the Kingdom has exerted continuous and relentless efforts at the bilateral level in bringing points of view among the Sudanese parties in order to activate Sudan’s regional role and preserve its security.
The Saudi minister hailed the roles of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom for their tireless efforts in supporting Sudan to reach the decision point for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. He also affirmed the importance of friendly and brotherly countries’ support for Sudan to reach the decision point in order to benefit from the available resources at the international financial institutions and implement the reforms agreed upon in the IMF program, including economic and organizational reforms to stimulate the private sector investments.
“In a continuation of its efforts over the past decades as a main contributor to supporting development in the developing countries, including the support provided to the Republic of Sudan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue its positive and influential role in financing development globally and regionally,” Prince Faisal added.
He called on all countries as well as regional and international financial institutions to respond urgently to Sudan’s needs and make rapid progress in dealing with debts, in order to enable Sudan to overcome this difficult phase and achieve sustainable prosperity.
