Balochistan Awami Party’s Senator, Danesh Kumar, on Thursday, claimed thatthe price of the US Dollar rose against the Pakistani Rupee due tosmuggling of the currency.
While addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, which met underthe chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, Kumar revealed that dollarsmuggling was happening on a large scale in the country. He told thecommittee of a recent incident where a man was caught with $500,000 inQuetta.
He said the price of the dollar would come down if the government stoppedits smuggling. The current rate of the dollar should be at Rs. 219, headded.
Further advising the government on how to control the price of the dollar,he said that oil should be imported from Iran as it would decrease theprice of petrol to Rs. 150 per liter.
Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, explained thatcurrencies had depreciated against the dollar throughout the world.However, the government was taking strict measures to control thedepreciating rupee.
Read Top Stories
These measures include funding from friendly countries and theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF), lower import bill, restrictions onnon-essential imports, and increased dollar inflow through exports andremittances. She revealed that due to the availability of fuel for morethan a month, Pakistan’s imports for the next month would also be lower,which would help stabilize the currency.
On the claims of PTI Senator Mohsin Aziz that the country was going todefault, Dr. Aisha said that the country had not defaulted and thegovernment was managing letters of credit (LCs). She also assured thecommittee that with the inflow of funds from the IMF, the Pakistani economywould experience a positive change.
