The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sealed four currency markets in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s biggest currency market in an attempt to curb dollar outflows.
Federal agents recovered thousands of dollars and local PKR after storming currency shops allegedly involved in informal currency business.
The FIA officials said the fresh operation was conducted along with police personnel against the currency dealers in Chowk Yadgar on Sunday, where three markets were sealed.
So far, over 250 operations have been conducted against the currency dealers involved in Hundi, Hawala as well as black marketing of dollars and other foreign currency during the current year. According to sources, Rs. 66 million and over 150,000 US Dollars have been recovered from the operations.
The FIA has been busy in the past few weeks and is actively looking at reprobates involved in informal (and illegal) currency trade. Last week, the federal watchdog discovered two prominent industrialists who were involved in hundi/hawala, cheating, and fraud through a trust’s bank account.
During the inquiry, the FIA discovered two transactions totaling 40,000 pounds that were dated June 20, 2022, and September 19, 2022, in the trust’s account. These transactions were each for 20,000 pounds.
It can be asserted that the central bank’s restrictions on foreign currency to maintain the country’s reserves have created an underground economy for dollars in the country, and with that effect, a growing inclination toward black markets for profit and tax evasion.
The pressure on Pakistan’s foreign exchange is not only due to OUR imports alone, but also because Afghanistan’s economy is also running on Pakistani smuggled dollars. This is a failure of border security and customs departments, and government is not enthusiastic to wake these departments up. This callousness will be the downfall of this country.