Pakistan is ready to buy petroleum products from Russia at the same price it is offering to neighbor India.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who is on an official visit to the United States (US), told reporters about the government’s intention on Russian crude and expressed hope that the West would not object to the import of the discounted fuel given Pakistan’s financial hardships of late.
On broader deliberations, Dar revealed in the past four days he has met with the heads of international financial institutions, the US, Saudi Arabia, and others.
He stated that the World Bank (WB) and the United Kingdom hosted a roundtable conference to discuss floods in Pakistan. He added that the UNDP, ADB, and World Bank officials presented a joint report there.
The finance front-man said a strong appeal was made to the international community to assist Pakistan. He further mentioned that Pakistan would complete the existing IMF program by June 2023 and meet all obligations. “We are committed to reforms. About five to 10 percent of work is pending, which will be completed soon,” he claimed.
In contrast with popular opinion among leading donors of the country, Dar implied the lenders have no objections to targeted subsidies. They were opposed to broad-based subsidies. He speculated that the IMF’s objection could have been in reference to the government’s electricity subsidy. “We are doing nothing without their consultation,” he stated emphatically.
On miscellaneous efforts directed elsewhere, Dar expressed hope that Pakistan would be removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list. He stated that Pakistan worked hard to remove itself from the grey list. He hoped that a meeting would be held soon and that the country would be removed from the notorious list.
