According to a report in Pakistan’s English newspaper the News International, as covered by RT, Pakistan has reached an agreement to pay for urgently needed oil imports from Russia not with dollars, but with Chinese yuan. An unnamed official from Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy told the News International that the transaction would be facilitated by the Bank of China, at a price of about $50-52 per barrel.
RT explains: “In January, Moscow and Islamabad reached `conceptual’ agreements on supplies of Russian oil and petroleum products to Pakistan. The deal is expected to provide relief to cash-strapped Pakistan, which is facing a balance of payments crisis and critically low foreign exchange reserves.” Although RT doesn’t mention it, Pakistan is currently facing financial warfare and is being put on the rack by the IMF, as it tries to obtain a standby loan. The IMF wants Pakistan to use its dollars for one thing, and one thing only: paying its foreign debt.
