A warning for the powers that be

There have been some positive developments on the external front in the last couple of weeks. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed six deals with Islamabad to help the cash starved government access $1.2 billion over the next several months. The World Bank has also approved a $350 million package for Pakistan’s budget financing for the Second Resilient Institutions for Sustainable Economy (RISE-II) project after a two-year delay. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will likely release the second tranche of $700m from its $3bn stand-by arrangement (SBA) programme following a meeting of its executive board on January 11. More crucially, Saudi Oil giant Aramco has formally entered Pakistan’s retail oil market by acquiring a 40 per cent stake in Gas & Oil Pakistan Ltd (GO) — a private entity established almost a decade ago — with an estimated investment of about $100m. The entry of Aramco, one of the world’s leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, into Pakistan’s market is widely regarded as a major development. The oil giant’s decision is also seen as part of the Saudi commitment to invest $25bn in Pakistan.