Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Tuesday said that no offer of cheaper oil has been made to Pakistan by Russia as claimed by the former Prime Minister Imran Khan, however, the country would be open to buying Russian cheap oil if offered without any sanctions levied by America on such a deal.
Talking to the CNN’s Becky Anderson in an interview, FM Ismail said, “The previous government wrote a letter to Russia federation that letter was never responded to. Russia has also not offered us any oil and it is now under sanction so it very difficult for me to imagine buying Russian oil.”
“If Russia were to offer us oil at cheaper rate and there were no sanctions on Pakistan to buy Russian oil sure, we would consider that but at this point I think that it would be not possible for Pakistani banks to open LCs (Letters of Credit) or to arrange to buy Russian oil and nor for that matter has the Russian federation offered to sell us any oil.” He stated clearly.
Responding to the question if Pakistan would plan to buy oil and wheat from Russia due to rising food and oil prices, the finance minister said, “We have talked about buying wheat from Russia and the previous government talked about buying oil from Russia but I think Russia is under sanctions.”
However, regarding the import of wheat, the minister said Pakistan was willing to buy wheat either from Russia and Ukraine. “We have actually asked, either Ukraine or Russia, whichever country sells us wheat we are happy to buy wheat from them,” he said.
Increased Petrol Prices
The government decided to increase the prices of petroleum products by Rs.30 last week to help revive the $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan program it secured in 2019, while the prices would remain unchanged, sparking fears IMF might not release the $1 billion loan tranche, added Miftah.