Members of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) have complained about their lack of access to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, and how his brand of the controlled exchange rate was expanding the black market.
On Wednesday, members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue spoke in unison about Ishaq Dar’s unapproachability.
“He doesn’t even meet with me,” said MNA Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, chairman of the body. Sheikh, who visited the KCCI with other members of the parliamentary committee, stated that Pakistan has three centres of power: the finance minister, the chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue, and the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
“Dar was not directly elected by the people,” he complained. He urged businesspeople to approach the finance ministry through the legislative body. “We’ll hold a joint press conference. Let’s see how long your problems go unresolved,” he said.
The Karachi businessmen roundly condemned Dar’s controlled exchange rate policy, which was a hallmark of his brand of economic management. They claimed that foreign trade had come to a halt due to a dollar shortage, which was reflected in the widening gap between official and actual exchange rates, as well as a rapidly expanding black market for dollar trading.
Zubair Motiwala, chairman of the Businessmen Group which controls the KCCI, said, “Banks aren’t clearing even $1,500-$2,000 payments for the import of spare parts, so machinery worth hundreds of thousands of dollars is sitting idle”. Added to this, the government has attempted to limit dollar outflows by limiting imports, including raw materials for industrial units. As a result, some manufacturing companies have either ceased operations or reduced their output.
“Shipments of grains, machinery, chemicals and foodstuff are stuck. Shipping and port fees are mounting. In many cases, accumulated demurrage exceeds the cost of shipment,” he said. The business group chairman criticised the central bank’s recent directive that prioritised import clearance for export-oriented industries below the food and energy sectors.
