Saudi Arabia asks Pakistan to wait

Saudi Arabia asks Pakistan to wait: Oil decision after presidential poll
* Oil import bill expected to rise over $14.5 billion
By Zafar Bhutta, Daily Times, September 2, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan to wait for its final response regarding the Saudi Oil Facility (SOF) till the election of the new president of Pakistan, sources in the Petroleum Ministry told Daily Times on Monday.

The sources said Saudi Arabia did not give a final response to a delegation led by Finance Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who also holds the charge of the Petroleum Ministry. Saudi Arabia said it was observing the current situation in Pakistan and would give a final response on the oil facility after the presidential election, they said.

The sources said that the Pakistani delegation placed two requests before the government of Saudi Arabia. One was to grant a one-year extension in the oil credit facility enabling Pakistan to import oil on deferred payments.

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