Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said that the first cargo of discounted crude from Russia has arrived in the country, adding that the discharge of oil will commence today (Monday). “I have fulfilled another of my promises to the nation. Glad to announce that the first Russian discounted crude oil cargo has arrived in Karachi and will begin oil discharge tomorrow,” the premier tweeted.
“Today is a transformative day. We are moving one step at a time toward prosperity, economic growth, energy security, and affordability,” PM Shehbaz said.
He stated that the arrival of the first-ever Russian oil cargo in Pakistan was the beginning of a “new relationship between Pakistan and the Russian Federation”.
“I commend all those who remained part of this national endeavor and contributed to translating the promise of Russian oil import into reality,” the prime minister added.
Last year, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had announced that the country was considering buying discounted Russian oil, pointing out that neighbour India had been purchasing oil from Moscow and Islamabad also had a right to explore the possibility.
Subsequently, State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik had flown to Moscow for talks on issues including oil and gas supplies after which the government announced that it would purchase discounted crude oil, petrol, and diesel from Russia. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed hope that Pakistan will reach agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June to get the remaining loan as his government had met all the conditions with sincerity.
Speaking at a ceremony at Sabzazar Sports Complex in Lahore, he said he had a long conversation with chief of IMF recently and he assured that the government would meet conditions for the loan and provide the required information about budget. He said Pakistani nation was vibrant and was capable of meeting all the coming economic challenges in case of any further delay in the IMF programme. He said despite all the economic difficulties, the federal government raised the salaries of employees by 30 to 35 percent, increased pension by 17 percent and increased minimum wage from Rs 25000 to Rs 32000. The government was aware of the economic difficulties of the poor people, he added.
He said major funds were allocated for the sectors of agriculture and information technology in the federal budget presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, adding the budget would provide relief to the common man and create jobs. The prime minister said he assumed government in April 2022 amid very tough economic conditions. Last year, the government of Imran Niazi broke the agreement with International Monetary Fund and the coalition government had to face the challenge of rising commodity and oil prices in the international market and then it spent huge funds for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by the devastating funds, he mentioned. The government had to seek help from friendly countries to overcome economic challenges, he continued.
He said the government of Imran Niazi showed negligence and did not buy gas when its prices were very low in the international market during the COVID pandemic. Imran Niazi did nothing for the people but wasted all his time in waging vendetta against opposition leaders, he added. He said Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hamza Shehbaz and other leaders of Pakistan Muslim League(N) were put in the jails and opposition was pushed against the wall. Shehbaz said economic stability was not possible without political stability and vowed to put Pakistan on the path of greater progress and prosperity under the dynamic leadership of Nawaz Sharif. He said the incidents of May 9 were acts of hostility against the nation, adding the military installations were attacked and Jinnah House was burned down on the instigation of Imran Niazi. He asserted that law will take its course and all those responsible for the incident of May 9 would be punished so that these crimes could not be repeated again. However, he assured that innocent would be treated fairly and with justice.
The PM said in 2017, as servant of Punjab province he started work on a plan for establishing 14 state of the art sports complexes but the fascist government of Imran Niazi stopped the project after the stolen elections of 2018. The proposed sports complexes included facilities of swimming pools, gymnasiums and badminton and squash courts. He recalled that the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League(N) was put in jail for initiating huge public welfare projects including projects of clean drinking water and solid waste management in cities. In the four years of the previous government, work on the development projects including projects worth billions of rupees of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were stopped, he said adding the government led by Nawaz Sharif in its tenure eliminated loadshedding, constructed a network of roads across.