LAHORE: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s Businessmen Panel (BMP) on Sunday said that the country’s economy has nosedived partly due to external factors but majorly due to non-serious and poor domestic policy decisions and mismanagement of the economic managers.
In a statement issued here, FPCCI former president and BMP Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar observed the rupee saw yet another dramatic fall in just over a month, plummeting 6.66% while the key interest rate have been escalated by the central bank by 300 basis points to the record historic level of 20%, which will destroy the economy completely.
Asking the authorities to include serious and progressive fiscal reforms in the IMF program, the BMP chairman observed that it is very clear that IMF programs focus on stabilization and crisis management rather than growth-oriented policies that require structural reforms.
He stressed need for a revisit of government policies including the coordination exercise between the Ministry of Finance and SBP, as no independent economist could support the economic policies that are currently in place.
He said that rupee has plummeted 6.66% against the US dollar during the trading session
on Thursday, as it settled at 285.09 against the greenback, a decline of Rs18.98 in the inter-bank market. Earlier during the day, the rupee had depreciated to 284.88 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market before posting a minor recovery that proved short-lived.
The rupee had plummeted against the US dollar on Wednesday as well but the fall was less severe as the currency settled at 266.11 after a depreciation of 1.73% or Rs4.61 in the inter-bank market.
The local currency had earlier suffered a dramatic fall when it went from 230.89 to 255.43 on January 26 as the government loosened what were seen as administrative measures to keep the currency in check.
In the open market, the rupee lost 14 rupees for buying and selling against USD, closing at 285.00 and 288.00, respectively.
He said that reports around International Monetary Fund (IMF) are not positive, denting investor sentiment. He added volatility would remain until IMF program is revived and inflows are materialized. He said the delay in IMF funding is creating uncertainty in currency market and added that a number of payments related to imports have been made, leading to pressure on the rupee, as the move to a market-based currency exchange rate regime is one of a list of actions the IMF wants Pakistan to complete to clear its 9th review.
