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Finance Minister Asad Umar rules out further rupee devaluation
By Salman Siddiqui
Published: April 5, 2019
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Finance Minister Asad Umar. PHOTO: PTI
KARACHI: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Friday ruled out the need for further devaluation of the Pakistani rupee as the currency stands at equilibrium.
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made no demand for rupee devaluation,” Umar clarified categorically while addressing at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) through online video conference.
The rupee was overvalued at Rs127 in January. This was the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER).
SBP official rules out further depreciation of rupee
“Today, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has clarified the rupee is standing at equilibrium,” he said. Dismissing reports of further devaluation, he added: “Stop circulating rumors that Asam Umar has said rupee would depreciate to 160 or 180.”
The finance minister’s statement came after the rupee depreciated 1.8% – or Rs2.55 toRs141.39 – to the US dollar in the past four weeks.
The Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister encouraged people to invest in stock rather than dollars. The next budget would introduce measures which would help projecting capital market to a historical high.
Umar said the federal government has taken tough decisions to make Pakistan a part of the world economy. Urging people to cope with the current challenges, he said the situation was due to corrective measures taken by the government to improve the economy. “These will bear fruits in shape of foreign investment in good time,” he asserted.
“Pakistan’s documented economy size is $300-350 billion. It has to be part of the world $70 trillion economies,” he said and stressed on the increase in exports.
Gold touches new peak at Rs72,200 per tola
Umar’s comments follow a statement by the State Bank of Pakistan’s Banking Policy and Regulations Group Executive Director Syed Irfan Ali saying that the rupee will not depreciate against the US dollar anymore, with the government making six major foreign payments last week.
The statement was released by the Pakistan Forex Association after the central bank official met a delegation of currency dealers.
“The government has no intentions of letting the rupee lose more value,” he was quoted. “The rupee may go down at times when the demand for the dollars increases. However, that would be a temporary phenomenon as the rupee would later recover against the dollar.”
The six major payments include the one for imported crude oil that makes about one-fourth of the total import bill of an average $4.4 billion a month, forex association president Malik Bostan told The Express Tribune.
The government has allowed the local currency to depreciate by 1.8%, or Rs2.55, to Rs141.39 against the dollar in the inter-bank market in four weeks since March 8. Cumulatively, the rupee has dropped 33.7% in a free-fall against the US dollar since December 2017.
Accordingly, the rupee fell to Rs143 against the greenback in the open market.
By Salman Siddiqui
Published: April 5, 2019
0SHARES
SHARE TWEET EMAIL
Finance Minister Asad Umar. PHOTO: PTI
KARACHI: Finance Minister Asad Umar on Friday ruled out the need for further devaluation of the Pakistani rupee as the currency stands at equilibrium.
“The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has made no demand for rupee devaluation,” Umar clarified categorically while addressing at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) through online video conference.
The rupee was overvalued at Rs127 in January. This was the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER).
SBP official rules out further depreciation of rupee
“Today, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has clarified the rupee is standing at equilibrium,” he said. Dismissing reports of further devaluation, he added: “Stop circulating rumors that Asam Umar has said rupee would depreciate to 160 or 180.”
The finance minister’s statement came after the rupee depreciated 1.8% – or Rs2.55 toRs141.39 – to the US dollar in the past four weeks.
The Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) minister encouraged people to invest in stock rather than dollars. The next budget would introduce measures which would help projecting capital market to a historical high.
Umar said the federal government has taken tough decisions to make Pakistan a part of the world economy. Urging people to cope with the current challenges, he said the situation was due to corrective measures taken by the government to improve the economy. “These will bear fruits in shape of foreign investment in good time,” he asserted.
“Pakistan’s documented economy size is $300-350 billion. It has to be part of the world $70 trillion economies,” he said and stressed on the increase in exports.
Gold touches new peak at Rs72,200 per tola
Umar’s comments follow a statement by the State Bank of Pakistan’s Banking Policy and Regulations Group Executive Director Syed Irfan Ali saying that the rupee will not depreciate against the US dollar anymore, with the government making six major foreign payments last week.
The statement was released by the Pakistan Forex Association after the central bank official met a delegation of currency dealers.
“The government has no intentions of letting the rupee lose more value,” he was quoted. “The rupee may go down at times when the demand for the dollars increases. However, that would be a temporary phenomenon as the rupee would later recover against the dollar.”
The six major payments include the one for imported crude oil that makes about one-fourth of the total import bill of an average $4.4 billion a month, forex association president Malik Bostan told The Express Tribune.
The government has allowed the local currency to depreciate by 1.8%, or Rs2.55, to Rs141.39 against the dollar in the inter-bank market in four weeks since March 8. Cumulatively, the rupee has dropped 33.7% in a free-fall against the US dollar since December 2017.
Accordingly, the rupee fell to Rs143 against the greenback in the open market.
