The Ministry of Commerce announced on Friday that Pakistan has passed a special order allowing barter trading for specific items, including gas and oil, with Russia, Iran, and Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s government is frantically attempting to manage a balance of payments problem and keep inflation under control after it set a record of nearly 38% last month with only enough foreign exchange reserves to cover one month’s imports.

The government order, called the Business-to-business (B2B) Barter Trade Mechanism 2023 and dated June 1, lists goods that can be bartered. State and privately owned entities would need approval to participate in the trade mechanism.

After Pakistan’s first purchase of discounted Russian oil in April, petroleum minister Musadik Malik told Reuters that Pakistan would only be buying crude, not refined products under the deal.

There was no confirmation about how the payment would be made. But, Malik said purchases could rise to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) if the first transaction went smoothly.

Last year, Pakistan imported 154,000 bpd of crude oil from Russia, little changed from 2021, data from analytics firm Kpler showed.

In May, Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association complained that up to 35% of the diesel sold in Pakistan had been smuggled from Iran.

Pakistan’s government has also ordered a clamp down on smuggling of flour, wheat, sugar, and fertilizer to Afghanistan.