Govt & State Bank Rule Out Further Depreciation of Rupee

Finance Minister Asad Umar has ruled out the chances of further devaluation of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar as the currency now stands at equilibrium. He made these remarks while addressing at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) through a video link conference.

The minister said that the previous government had artificially kept the price of rupee at 127 in January, quoting State Bank’s statement that now the local currency is standing at equilibrium.

Asad Umar lashed out at those spreading false rumors associated with him that the rupee will further depreciate to 160 or 180 against the greenback and that the IMF has demanded devaluation of the rupee.

Note that the Pakistani currency has slipped 1.8 percent – or Rs. 2.55 – to Rs. 141.39 against the US dollar in the past four weeks.

Asad Umar’s claims are based on a statement from the central bank which said the rupee wouldn’t slip further against the US bill.

President of Forex Association, Malik Bostan, said it was because the government made six principal foreign payments last week.

These payments, according to him, include the import bill for crude oil which makes one-fourth of the total import and amounts to $4.4 billion a month on average.

He further hinted that the rupee might face a temporary fall due to an increase in the demand of dollar.

“However, that would be a momentary phenomenon as the rupee would later recover against the dollar,” he added.

Meanwhile, forex association has stopped selling dollar in the open Market, Bostan said. He added that they are selling greenback to genuine buyers who want to spend them on healthcare, education and foreign tours only after seeing documentary proof like fee vouchers of international educational and medical institutes and visa if they are travelers.