Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has warned that a prolonged escalation in Middle East tensions, particularly any disruption to energy supply routes, could pose significant risks to inflation, fuel availability and overall economic stability, citing Pakistan’s heavy reliance on imported energy and limited reserve buffers.
Speaking in an interview to CNBC, Aurangzeb highlighted that Pakistan is closely monitoring developments amid ongoing US–Iran discussions.
“All I can say is that diplomacy is a process, not an event,” he said.
“So our leadership is still at it, and a very earnest effort was made over the weekend, and that was recognised both by the US leadership and the Iranian leadership. So at this point, the discussions continue.”
The talks were described as the most significant interaction between Washington and Tehran in decades, underlining that while progress is incremental, continued communication itself remains an important development.
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On Pakistan’s role, Aurangzeb said efforts to facilitate engagement are ongoing. “We have to be hopeful because dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward. Even as a country, which is not directly involved in the war, but we are in a war-like situation,” he said.
At the same time, Aurangzeb underscored growing concern over the economic fallout of prolonged instability.
“The first order impact that we see in our country, in terms of the molecule availability, the pricing, the price transmission, and then the second order impact, if there is longevity in this [conflict] and the duration, intensity goes forward, the second and the third order impact would be quite a big issue for the entire world, but certainly for us as well,” he said.
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Aurangzeb further noted Pakistan’s dependence on imported fuel from the Middle East, including crude oil, gas, diesel, aviation fuel and LPG, making regional stability critical for domestic economic management.
“Our reserves are good enough to take us to the end of this month into next month as well. But as a country which is built on commercial reserves and we do not have strategic reserves, both the availability and the pricing become a real issue,” he said.
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