Pakistan will receive its first cargo of crude oil from Russia in April, State Minister for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik said, as the South Asian country battles an economic crisis.
On the Geo News programme Capital Talk on Thursday, the federal minister said “80% to 85%” of negotiations with Russia have been completed.
“Our commercial deal is in the final stages, and by the month of March the entire commercial deal will be negotiated,” he said.
“In April, we will give them the first shipping order. The first cargo of crude oil from Russia will arrive in by the end of April,” the state minister told the private channel.
The minister said that the country will receive one-third of its crude oil imports from Russia at a concessional rate “the impact of which will be translated to the people.”
On Wednesday, the government yet again increased the prices of all petroleum products by up to Rs13 per litre for the next fortnight.
On the latest price hike, the minister said the government pays dollars for oil, and at the moment the country is short of it. “Oil prices are dependent on ongoing international prices and the currency parity,” he added.
The minister shared that Pakistan imports $2 billion to $2.5 billion of energy commodities per month. “If we give subsidy on it, the entire liquidity of the country will be drained off,” he said.
Last month, Malik had said that under the Pak-Russia agreement, oil and gas will start reaching Pakistan this year, which would help provide relief to people.
Pakistan faces a balance of payment crisis with depleting foreign exchange reserves, with funds held by the central bank standing at a low level of $4.3 billion.
Meanwhile, the import cover is around one month with February’s bill clocking in at $4 billion, according to data available with the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The South Asian country’s worries are also compounded by an incessant delay in reviving its bailout programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a facility that has been stalled since November last year.
The country is also battling high inflation, which clocked in at 31.5% in February.