The United States (US) Dollar continued its surge against the Pakistani rupee as it created a new high, rising to Rs169.6 in the interbank market.
“Due to the recent sustained rise in the dollar’s value, importers have started booking the currency in advance, which has increased its demand in the interbank market,” Chairman of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan Malik Bostan told Dawn.
Bostan warned that the dollar could become even more expensive if the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) does not intervene.
On the other hand, (SBP) pumped $1.2 billion into the inter-bank market in three months to protect the weakening rupee but could not stop the local currency from falling to a historic low.
From mid-June to the first week of September, the central bank injected $1.2 billion out of its reserves, government sources told The Express Tribune. The maximum single-day injection of $100 million was made in July, followed by $85 million in August, they added.
Back in November 2019, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Minister for Labour & Culture, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Shaukat Yousafzai, was all praises for the rise in the value of the dollar.
“The increase in dollar benefits Pakistan greatly as we only have to pay in rupees, not in dollars,” said Yousafzai.
Senior journalist Mansoor Ali Khan shared Yousafzai’s old clip again today as the USD rose to a record high.
Yousafzai can be heard saying, “The increase in dollar value has increased the cost of BRT by Rs3 billion and at the same time helped us save over Rs3 billion because we only have to pay that amount in rupees, not in dollars.”
Yousafzai also said that all those saying that the rupee devaluation is going to increase the amout have no idea what they are talking about.
