Sharif said he met with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan while he was on a personal visit to Pakistan on Sunday.

“In a one-on-one meeting, he said…there is a $2 billion dollar repayment due and we are extending this,” Sharif told reporters in a televised press conference.

“I asked for the UAE to invest a few billion dollars in key investment projects and that would be helpful,” Sharif added.

“He said the UAE was committed to this investment and the two countries share brotherly ties,” he said.

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Securing external financing has previously been a key condition for the International Monetary Fund to approve bail-out deals for the cash-strapped nation.

The next review by the IMF of its $7 billion, 37-month loan programme to Pakistan is expected in February.

Pakistan’s $350 billion economy has struggled for decades with boom-and-bust cycles, needing 23 IMF bailouts since 1958.