Prince Mohammed bin Salman has directed authorities to ‘study’ an increase in the kingdom’s investment and deposit in Pakistan, Saudi authorities announced on Tuesday.

A press release by the Saudi Press Agency said that MBS, crown prince and prime minister of the oil rich country, had issued directions to consider ‘augmenting’ investments in Pakistan to reach $10 billion. It added that the amount will be raised from the amount already announced on August 25, 2022.

The Saudi Development Fund has also been instructed to study increasing deposits in Pakistan’s state bank to $5 billion.

“This came within the framework of the existing communication between HRH the Crown Prince and Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan,” the statement said.

The announcement comes right after Army Chief General Asim Munir’s visit to Saudi Arabia, where he met the Saudi defence minister as well as the crown prince, his first international visit since taking over as army chief. General Munir is also scheduled to visit the United Arab Emirates from Tuesday.

Pakistan has been looking towards support from friendly countries such as Saudi Arabia and China to raise its foreign exchange reserves which have fallen to $5.6 billion, barely enough to cover a month’s imports.