ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar on Friday directed authorities to create a strong and proactive road plan to stop the cross-border smuggling of money and other things as the government works to bring about economic and financial stability in the country.
The development comes during an inter-ministerial meeting on economic situation of the country held at the Finance Division on Friday.
The meeting discussed and reviewed the economic situation and current mechanism of foreign currency; wheat and urea smuggling, said the Ministry of Finance in a statement.
Various measures were discussed in order to strengthen anti-smuggling regime, it said.
The depletion of foreign exchange reserves, which fell by $784 million to $6.715 billion last week, is one of many issues Pakistan’s economy facing. The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) reserves are at their lowest level since January 2019.
The SBP claims that this reduction is due to the repayment of some other external debt as well as the payment of $1 billion against maturing Pakistan International Sukuk. Inflows, particularly the US$ 500 million received from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, helped to offset some of the debt repayments (AIIB).
Meanwhile, the finance minister highlighted the economic situation in the country and stressed the need for coordination among all the necessary platforms for this purpose.
The participants appreciated the Finance Minister for taking appropriate and active measures for tackling the current economic situation and ensured their support for ensuring smooth and sustainable economic growth, according to the statement.
