Pakistan expecting Saudi financial help – finance minister – The Peninsula

Pakistan expecting Saudi financial help – finance minister – The Peninsula

Islamabad: Pakistan is seeking financial help from Saudi Arabia that will include doubling the current deferred oil payment facility given by Riyadh to $2.4bn per year, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday.

Pakistan is struggling to meet its external financing obligations in the face of low foreign exchange reserves that barely covered a month of imports, and is also beset by decades-high inflation that has slowed down its economy.

"I have discussed both things (financial help and oil facilities) with the Saudi finance minister, and there are positive vibes from there. They said they will support us," Dar said during an interview with local television channel Samaa.

He said the government was in touch with Saudi authorities, but did not give a time frame for the aid. Reuters earlier reported that Pakistan expects the assistance this month.

Dar also said that Islamabad was looking at purchasing discounted oil from Russia, and that he had discussed the matter with officials from the US State Department back in October.

Dar said US officials had told him that a G7 pricing committee was being set up for Russian oil products and that there would be a price cap.

"(They said) you shouldn't buy (oil) for above that, and