Pakistan asks Saudi Arabia for $6.7 billion, 15-year oil facility to replace one-year deferred deals

Pakistan has asked Saudi Arabia for a $6.7 billion oil financing facility spread over 15 years, about Rs 1.86 trillion at today's interbank rate, ProPakistani reported on 14 October. Some headlines rounded it to $7 billion.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb made the request to Sultan Abdulrahman Al-Marshad, chief executive of the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF annual meetings in Thailand. The Finance Ministry has not disclosed the Saudi answer; people familiar with the talks said the Kingdom is studying it.

What changes if Riyadh agrees

Since 2019 Saudi Arabia has supplied oil to Pakistan on one-year deferred payment. The latest facility was $1.2 billion (about Rs 332 billion), signed in February 2025 and expired in April, at about 6% interest, according to Economic Affairs Ministry officials. In total the SFD has financed roughly $6.7 billion of oil imports since 2019.

A 15-year facility would turn a bill that falls due every year into long-term debt, cutting the dollars Pakistan has to find in the near term and easing pressure on reserves.

Why now

• The petroleum import bill rose 5.8% to $16.8 billion (about Rs 4.65 trillion) in 2025-26.
• Crude imports alone rose 32% to $7.2 billion, and climbed another 40% in July and August.
• The IMF's third staff-level report does not count any Saudi oil facility in projected inflows for 2026-27 or 2027-28.
• Separately, the SFD's $3 billion short-term deposit was rolled over for three months in July and helped Pakistan repay the UAE.

The two sides also discussed trade, the investment protection agreement and refinery upgrades.

What it means for you

A longer facility does not cut the pump price by itself: petrol and diesel follow world oil and the rupee. It matters for the rupee, because fewer dollars leaving each year mean less pressure on the exchange rate. Follow the dollar rate, petrol price and convert any figure with our currency converter.