Increased remittances firming up forex reserves: Mian Zahid Hussain
KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said policies of the central bank are paying dividends.
He said that the rupee is strengthening against the dollar which is reducing loans and inflation while remittances are increasing which are consolidating forex reserves which are encouraging, he maintained.
Mian Zahid Hussain added that on 6th August, the dollar was traded at Rs168.44 in the local market but now it is available at Rs158.49 as the country has seen a current account surplus after five years.
He further added that loans from the IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank to tackle pandemic has also supported rupee while fall in the value of the dollar on a global scale was also a reason.
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The veteran business leader noted that the dollar can regain lost value after US elections while rupee can come under pressure if Pakistan decided to repay two billion dollars of Saudi loan.
The textile sector has come out of troubled waters and all production has been booked until April 2021 which is very encouraging, he said.
He noted that the strengthened rupee has created some problems for exporters but the overall impact is very positive as the government will have billions on its disposal to be used for the welfare of the masses.
He said that reforms initiated by the central bank has boosted the confidence of ex-pats resulting in over two billion dollar of remittances during the first five months of the current fiscal. An increase of 26.5 percent has been recorded in the remittances during the first four months which was 9.4 billion dollars as compared to 7.4 billion dollars during the last year.
Pakistan received 2.76 billion dollars during July while 2.3 billion dollars on October in which remittances from KSA, US and UK played a major role, he informed.
