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Pakistan uses Chinese yuan to buy cut-price oil from Russia
- Pakistan’s petroleum minister said the country’s first government-to-government import of Russian crude was paid for in Chinese currency
- Islamabad has also outlined a process to open barter trade with Russia, Afghanistan and Iran as it seeks avenues to trade without using US dollars
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Pakistan paid for its first government-to-government import of discounted Russian crude oil in Chinese currency, the South Asian country’s petroleum minister said, a significant shift in its US dollar-dominated export payments policy.
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Discounted crude offers a respite as Pakistan faces an economic crisis with an acute balance of payments problem, risking a default on its external debt. The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank are scarcely enough to cover a month of controlled imports.
The first cargo of discounted Russian crude oil arranged under a deal struck between Islamabad and Moscow earlier this year arrived in Karachi on Sunday. On Monday it was being offloaded at the port in the southern city of Karachi.
Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik, speaking by telephone on Monday, did not disclose the commercial details of the deal, including pricing or the discount that Pakistan received, but said, the “payment [was] made in RMB”.
He said the purchase, Pakistan’s first government-to-government deal with Russia, consisted of 100,000 tonnes, of which 45,000 tonnes had docked at Karachi port and the rest was on its way. Pakistan made the purchase back in April.
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