Saudi oil facility

SAUDI Arabia has offered to Pakistan the same oil credit facility it gave in 1998, and if Pakistan agrees to the facility, which it is at the moment considering, the signing will be during Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani's upcoming visit to the Kingdom. This will provide substantial relief to the Pakistan government, if the same use is made of the facility as last time. It followed the nuclear tests of 1998, and allowed the government to resist raising oil prices, which then had started rising internationally, because the Saudi oil came as free, with payment deferred to the future. The World Bank later raised the question of this money, and insisted on its being categorized as debt, but if this facility was now to be revived, it would let the government keep the money it received for oil, for other purposes. Not only should Pakistan be ready for this facility, but it should approach other Gulf countries, which supply more oil to Pakistan than Saudi Arabia, to provide the same facility. This would ensure that virtually all oil imports would be coming in on the same terms, advantageous to the Government of Pakistan.