Despite the fact that the Pakistani rupee has been progressively losing value in recent months, its drop of more than Rs 4 from yesterday’s closing has piqued the interest of the country’s officials. Today, the rupee plummeted to a new low of 237 versus the US dollar in the interbank market. It finished at 232.93 per dollar on Tuesday. According to analysts, the mounting political and economic uncertainties in Pakistan has had a direct influence on the Pakistani rupee.
The delay in receiving International Monetary Fund aid has only exacerbated the situation.
However, Pakistani Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has stated that the currency pressure is just transitory and will “vanish” soon, as will the IMF loan.
Ismail told Mosharraf Zaidi, CEO of Islamabad-based policy think-tank Tabadlab, that “it’s not fun going to the world, to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to the Chinese, to the Saudis, asking for money.”
The central bank should take strict measures against exporters who are not bringing back their proceeds to the country in due time,” Pakistan newspaper Dawn quoted Malik Bostan, chairman, Forex Association of Pakistan as saying.
Bostan also underlined the need for Islamabad to use local currency for trading with Afghanistan “as it would save $2 billion in foreign exchange.”
