SBP rebuts placement of any restriction on LCs

December 2, 2022 (MLN): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday clarified that no restriction (verbal or otherwise) was imposed on the opening of Letters of Credit (LCs) or contracts for the import of crude oil, LNG, and petroleum products.

The SBP in its statement further said that some misinformation is being spread in the media that the import of oil and petroleum products has been restricted by it.

Such misinformation is being spread with ulterior motives to create uncertainty in the market, it noted.

In fact, SBP ensures the timely processing of FX payments through banks related to the import of oil and gas products (including LNG).

In accordance with the contractual maturity of the trade documents.

All the LCs/contracts for oil import are being retired on their due date through the interbank foreign exchange market without any delay.

The same is also evident from trade data released by SBP in terms of which country’s oil import stood at $1.48 billion and $1.47bn for the month of Sep’22 and Oct’22 respectively.

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