Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that Russia had not offered Pakistan to purchase its oil and due to sanctions, it is very difficult for Pakistan to buy oil from the country.

“The PTI-led government wrote a letter to Russia to sell its oil to Pakistan but the Russian authorities have not responded to the letter,” the finance minister said while replying to a question during an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson on Tuesday.

He said Islamabad may consider buying Russian oil if it is available at a cheaper rate and secondly if there are no sanctions on Pakistan.

“At this point, it will not be possible for banks in Pakistan to open LCs (letters of credit) or to arrange (finances) to buy Russian oil — nor has Russian Federation offered to sell us any oil.”

He said Pakistan has asked Ukraine and Russia to sell it wheat at a cheaper rate and “we would be happy to buy wheat from whichever country was ready to sell.”

Blaming the Imran Khan-led government for destroying the economy, he said that a record increase in inflation was witnessed during Imran Khan’s tenure.

Ismail said that he was confident in dealing with International Monitory Fund after reversing energy subsidies.