Pakistani currency dealers believe the exchange rate can once again startmoving in favour of the dollar because apparently there isn’t any forcethat can protect or strengthen the rupee.
“Foreign exchange reserves of the country, particularly of the State Bank,have been declining, which is sending a strong negative signal to thecurrency market,” said Atif Ahmed, a currency dealer in the interbankmarket.
He said the growing import bill showed the trade deficit would continue towiden in the coming weeks and months.
“We paid over $14 billion to import petroleum products during the firstnine months [July to March] of this fiscal year, almost twice as comparedto a year ago,” he said.
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Malik Bostan, the chairman of the Exchange Companies Association ofPakistan, agreed that the situation was far from normal. “Uncertainty isstill there. The political crisis is in not yet over. We are living underthe grip of all sorts of uncertainties, which will not allow the exchangerate to get stability.”
