(December 07-2022)
Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said the decision to buy cheap petroleum products from Russia is correct which will support our weak economy.
This will reduce the burden on the country’s exchequer, thereby reducing the current account deficit and inflation, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that the price of petroleum products will also be reduced for the consumers, electricity will also become cheaper and the people will get relief.
Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that despite Russia’s attack on Ukraine and US sanctions, European countries, Saudi Arabia, India, and many other countries are continuing to trade with Russia, but we have waited for eleven in this regard.
Now, without wasting any more time, the import of crude oil, petrol, and diesel should be started, while the possibility of importing other essential commodities should not be delayed, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that a long-term contract to import LNG with Russia is also essential.
He said that the government has announced the import of cheap petroleum products from Russia, but the price details have not been released.
In January, the Russian minister is visiting Pakistan, during which long-term agreements should be made in the country’s interests, as demand and supply have been badly neglected in energy deals in the past.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that we should get a lesson from the ravages of the Coronavirus and the crisis arising from the war between Russia and Ukraine to develop our resources related to agriculture and energy because Pakistan’s $40 billion imports consist of the same two sectors.
Different sources should be developed for imports instead of one in order to keep the local market stable and to avoid crises.
The economy will not develop until there is cheap energy and agricultural self-sufficiency in the country. It is impossible to increase production and exports in the present conditions and the situation can be improved by getting cheap energy.
