Islamabad: The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) has urged the government to control instability of rupee against the US dollar, as the local currency hit record low against the US dollar in the inter-bank market while the unrest has been creating unstable economic conditions. APBF President Syed Maaz Mahmood, in a statement issued here today said that a steep fall in the value of Pakistani rupee against foreign currencies have been causing an addition of trillions of rupees to the public debt, besides high inflation, as the local currency was being quoted at 223 presently, a massive depreciation of Rs8 or nearly 4% against the greenback. APBF Chairman Ibrahim Qureshi feared that political climate of the country has become unpredictable due to political uncertainty, reducing the level of investment and affecting the economic growth of the country. PR
\n, suggesting the government as well as the opposition parties to settle issues through talks, which is the right way to resolve the issues.
\nIbrahim Qureshi observed that the economic growth and industrialization are not possible without stability of rupee, as the dollar has been appreciating against the rupee for the last several months because of the higher current account deficit and burgeoning import bills.
\nAPBF Chairman observed that the market-based flexible exchange rate system, resilience in remittances and other factors can help contain the current account deficit in a sustainable range of 2-3 percent of GDP in FY23.
\nSyed Maaz Mahmood added that it seemed that authorities have let the rupee depreciating to discourage rising imports and encourage exports in an attempt to narrow down the widening trade deficit which poses a serious threat for the domestic economy.
\nHe expressed the fear that the rupee might be moving down in search for its value fit for resuming the IMF $6 billion loan program which is on hold for the last more than six months, but it would impact negatively on the country\u2019s overall economy.
\nThe APBF President said that for the last couple of months, the dollar has been appreciated by Rs37.15 against the local currency which lifted the cost of imported products and created uncertainty about the exchange rate stability.
\nThe dollar was at Rs187 two months back and now again hovering in the range of Rs120-123 in July 2022. Since the beginning of the new financial year the exchange rate looked shaky against the US dollar. The market reacted over the policy-makers\u2019 announcement about high current account deficit, while the importers rushed for higher amount.
\nSyed Maaz Mahmood said that trade and industry have no idea as to what is the real exchange rate needed by the central bank and which is the end point for depreciation of rupee. He said that this situation might create unstable economic conditions, generating higher risks, and transforms into low investment while inflation is one of the key sources of uncertainty.
\nThe high rate of inflation leaves the nation uncertain about potential investments, he added. He said that the country is facing a huge economic loss only because of wrong statements and irrational attitude of political players.
\nHe said that a week of stalled economic activity costs the country around $ 500 million and $2 billion per month and poor economy like Pakistan cannot afford even one million dollar loss to exports. He said that at a time when country is facing severe internal and external challenges, the situation is bound to affect the national interests.
\nThough the exporters would get some benefit against their export proceeds but the overall economy would face a tough time as the cost has been rising and finally it would affect consumption, which is the main wheel to run the economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad: The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) has urged the government to control instability of rupee against the US dollar, as the local currency hit record low against the US dollar in the inter-bank market while the unrest has been creating unstable economic conditions. APBF President Syed Maaz Mahmood, in a statement issued here today […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-272523","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n