Pakistan seeks Iran oil on easy terms

Islamabad: Pakistan has asked Iran to supply crude oil on a deferred payment basis to help ease balance of payments pressure, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki, Qureshi said Iran had assured that it would sympathetically consider Pakistan's request.

"If that is done that will be a facility that Pakistan can avail and that will certainly help stablise the economic situation and definitely ease the balance of payments within Pakistan," he said.

Qureshi said under Iranian law crude oil could be imported on a deferred payment for a maximum of three months and Mottaki had said the Iranian government would consider extending it further.

Pakistan is seeking a similar concession from Saudi Arabia.

A Pakistani minister in July said Saudi Arabia had agreed in principle to defer payments for crude oil sales, but Pakistan is still waiting for this arrangement to begin.

Such concessions would provide considerable relief for Pakistan's six-month-old government as it faces a balance of payments crisis that could result in it defaulting on a sovereign bond issue in February.

An advisor to the prime minister has said that Pakistan needs up to $3 billion (Dh11 billion) urgently in order to cover upcoming debt repayment obligations.