The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has welcomed Saudi Arabia’s generous offer to bail out Pakistan from its ongoing energy crisis.
FPCCI President Zubair Ahmed Malik has said that Saudi Arabia is expected to extend a bailout package of about $15 billion to Pakistan’s highly indebted energy sector by supplying crude and furnace oil on deferred payment to enable it to resolve the chronic circular debt issue which is most generous and a blessing to the incoming government of PML-N to combat the biggest problem of energy crisis prevailing for the last many years.
He said that it was heartening to know that Saudis had been taking reasonable interest in helping out the incoming PML-N government led by Nawaz Sharif as they also had extended a similar special package to Pakistan soon after it went nuclear in 1998 and faced international economic sanctions.
He recalled that between 1998 and 2002, Pakistan received $3.5 billion (Rs190 billion at the exchange rate at that time) worth of oil from Saudi Arabia on deferred payment, a major part of which was converted into grant, he said adding that it’s a golden opportunity for the new government to strengthen its repute among the masses and overcome energy crisis with immediate effect.
Malik said that as Pakistan expects about 100,000 barrels of crude oil and about 15,000 tons of furnace oil per day from Saudi Arabia on deferred payment for three years, the facility can be utilised to minimise load-shedding in the short term and provide an opportunity in the medium term to restructure the power sector by minimising subsidies, eliminating circular debt, ensuring recovery from the public sector and reducing system losses to bring it to a self-sustainable level.
He appreciated the gesture by the Saudi Arabian government at this juncture when Pakistan is facing sever crisis of electricity and massive load-shedding is continuing across the country besides having another crisis of gas shortage.
He advised the PML-N to avail this opportunity for the short-term and in the meantime devise an effective and comprehensive strategy to permanent solution of the problem which is badly hurting country’s economy and public life.
