Following Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s promise to bring the dollar below Rs200, the Pakistani rupee continued to rally against the greenback for the ninth consecutive day in the interbank market on Wednesday.
Analysts have attributed the strengthening of the rupee primarily to a reduction in the country’s import bill in September and expectations that the new finance minister, Ishaq Dar, would take measures to stabilise the current rate.
Seems that Dar’s dollarology is paying the dividend in bringing down the dollar, which Miftah was unable to do smartly.
Dar in his recent had said: “The actual value of the Pakistani rupee is less than 200 against the greenback and it will be brought down, as it is currently undervalued.”
He has strongly favoured intervention in the currency markets in three previous stints in the job, while Miftah Ismail was of view that as per commitmemnts made with the IMF, he, as a finance minister cannot intervene to bring the value of dollar down.
On Wednesday, the local currency gained Rs1.7 or 0.76%, managing to settle at Rs223.94 against the US dollar, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.
With the latest gains, the rupee has cumulatively recovered by Rs15.94 from its record high of Rs239.94.
Among other measures, the government has launched investigations regarding the role of banks in exchange rate manipulation.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on Tuesday that investigations had been launched against eight banks.
Show-cause notices had been issued to the banks, he informed the panel, adding that the rest of the banks would be investigated in the next phase.
