The pressure on the Pakistani rupee will “vanish” in a few weeks, according to Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, who also stated that Pakistan is not going to default.
He predicted that dollar inflows into Pakistan will exceed dollar outflows soon, creating a “stable exchange rate”. Additionally, he said that within three months, imports will “organically” decline, and exports will soar as a result of the government’s impending strategic plan.
“It’s no fun going to the world, to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to the Chinese, to the Saudis, asking for money,” said Miftah Ismail in an interview with Mosharraf Zaidi, CEO of advisory services firm Tabadlab.
According to Miftah, the IMF loan influx will be completed within weeks.
“The only thing is that from August 1 to August 15, the directors of the IMF are on vacation. That’s why the meeting is starting a little later than I’d prefer,” he added.
The finance minister defended the government’s policy of limiting imports to stop the dollar from leaving the country during the discussion. “Nobody is happy with the surgery, but sometimes it’s necessary,” he added.
Without mentioning the country, Miftah stated that Pakistani authorities had requested a “friendly country” to shore up foreign exchange reserves through dollar-denominated deposits but it turned down Islamabad’s request, saying the latter never returned the deposits.
The friendly nation subsequently expressed interest in purchasing shares of publicly traded government-owned companies under a buyback arrangement, giving Islamabad the option — but not the obligation — to repurchase the same ownership at a 5 per cent higher price.
In addition to stating that “there’s not even (a question of) price discovery,” the minister stated that the country “tried to help Pakistan and is giving a great deal”.
=Earlier today, the Pakistani rupee again fell to a record low versus the US dollar. During intraday trading on Wednesday at 1:00pm, the US dollar reached Rs239.
