https://arab.news/2m28n
- The country hopes to save $2 billion annually by bringing coal from Afghanistan instead of South Africa
- The prime minister says the government will pay for the import in its own currency instead of US dollars
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Monday the government would import coal from Afghanistan in the coming days to ensure low-cost power generation and save its precious foreign currency reserves.
Sharif shared the information while addressing his coalition partners who were invited to dinner at the PM House in Islamabad.
Pakistan has been facing an energy crisis due to increased international demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) that has driven up its prices since the war in Ukraine.
The country’s state minister for petroleum Musadik Malik acknowledged last week the government was finding it difficult to procure the commodity since it could not outbid rich European nations that had stopped energy imports from Russia and were now buying LNG.
“Pakistan will annually save $2 billion by importing coal from Afghanistan instead of South Africa,” the prime minister told the gathering. “The coal produced in Afghanistan is as good in quality as the one imported from South Africa.”
He added that Pakistan would pay for coal from the neighboring country in its own currency instead of US dollars.
Sharif said his government had saved Pakistan from bankruptcy and would usher in a new era of prosperity by the end of its 14-month term in the office.