Fear of major crisis: diesel reserves will exhaust by the end of December

Diesel crisis

Fear of major crisis: diesel reserves will exhaust by the end of December

Islamabad (Monitoring Desk) Petroleum  Division has warned, if there is no change in the current situation, the diesel reserves in the country will be exhausted by the end of December.

The government has requested $400 million worth of funds from the State Bank of Pakistan to avert the crisis, while the central bank has showed inability from allocating $400 million worth of funds or making advance payments for oil imports in view of rapidly dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

According to media reports, the Petroleum Division sought the help from the State Bank after rumors of the country’s bankruptcy and a downgrade in its credit rating led to foreign banks charging up to 8 percent confirmation charges on Pakistani letters of credit for oil imports. Although the normal rate is only around 0.5%.

According to sources, a meeting held this week between officials of the Petroleum Division and the State Bank to find a solution to the problems faced by oil importers was inconclusive as the State Bank was unable to provide any facilities due to extremely low foreign exchange reserves.