The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has said that it has not placed any restriction (verbal or otherwise) on the opening of Letters of Credit (LCs) or contracts for the import of crude oil, LNG, and petroleum products.
In a statement, the central bank said that misinformation is being spread in the media that the import of oil and petroleum products has been restricted by it.
“Such misinformation is being spread with ulterior motives to create uncertainty in the market,” the statement added.
The central bank said that it ensures the timely processing of FX payments through banks related to the import of oil and gas products (including LNG) and in accordance with the contractual maturity of the trade documents.
All the LCs/contracts for oil import are being retired on their due date through the interbank foreign exchange market without any delay. The same is also evident from trade data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in terms of which country’s oil import stood at $1.48 billion and $1.47 billion for the month of Sep-22 and Oct-22 respectively, the statement added.