Bloomberg initially broke the story that Saudi Arabia is open to discussions about trade in currencies other than the US dollar.

“There are no issues with discussing how we settle our trade arrangements, whether it is in the US dollar, whether it is the euro, whether it is the Saudi riyal,” Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia's finance minister, told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday in an interview in Davos.

“I don’t think we are waving away or ruling out any discussion that will help improve the trade around the world,” Al-Jadaan said.

“We are providing even oil and derivatives to support their energy needs,” Al Jadaan said. “So there is a lot of efforts, but we wanted this to be conducted.”

The kingdom is also discussing with the World Bank and other institutions how can it be “more creative to provide that support” to Pakistan, the minister said.