World | Pakistan
Saudis 'positive' on aid for Islamabad
Saudi Arabia has assured Pakistan of economic help, Pakistan's top economic official said yesterday, but he gave no details of any specific assistance.
- Reuters
- Published: 23:33 November 5, 2008
Islamabad: Saudi Arabia has assured Pakistan of economic help, Pakistan's top economic official said yesterday, but he gave no details of any specific assistance.
Pakistan is facing a balance-of-payments crisis that analysts say has left the nuclear-armed US ally little option but to accept International Monetary Fund (IMF) help.
But Pakistan is hoping to avoid an IMF programme, which entails painful conditions, by securing help from allies and other multilateral lenders.
President Asif Ali Zardari travelled to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in the hope of securing help.
Before his departure, Zardari said he would ask Saudi Arabia to defer payments for crude oil. Pakistan's annual oil bill had risen to $12 billion from $3 billion in five years, he said.
The prime minster's top economic adviser Shaukat Tarin, who is with Zardari in Saudi Arabia, told Pakistani state television that Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz had assured Zardari of help and had responded 'positively' to the request on oil payments.
"Everything was put on the table by Mr President and their attitude was positive towards everything," Tarin said by telephone from Riyadh.
"Now details have to be finalised but this should be taken as they have an intention to help Pakistan economically," he said.
Saudi Arabia has deferred Pakistani oil payments before but diplomats say donors, including Saudi Arabia, want to see the government reach a pact with the IMF before offering their own support.
Pakistan imports about 82 per cent of its crude oil from Saudi Arabia. Analysts say deferred payments on a third of that, as requested, would provide Pakistan with relief of up to $1.8 billion a year on its balance of payments, at current oil prices.
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