Pakistan and Iran are planning to conduct bilateral trade in their local currencies, revealed finance minister Miftah Ismael in an interview with Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
Miftah has asked the acting Governor State Bank Murtaza Sayyed to discuss it with Iranian authorities who are currently in Pakistan. These proposals were taken up in the meeting of Pak-Iran Joint Economic Commission (JEC) held here in Islamabad.
Talking to the Iranian media on Wednesday, Miftah Ismael said that the Prime Minister had been advised to enhance ties with Iran in all sectors, especially bilateral trade. Miftah added that he had also instructed the acting Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to reach out to his Iranian counterpart to discuss cooperation.
Pakistan government is looking to elevate the bilateral trade volume with Iran to $500 million.
Moreover, Miftah Ismail focused on the possibility of importing gas from the neighboring country, however, he regretted that due to the sanctions, Pakistan could not develop a pipeline project. He informed that, although the sanctions were lifted after a nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 in 2015, the US unilaterally walked out of the agreement and again imposed sanctions on Iran.
