The value of US dollar against Pakistani rupee has reached to an all-time high in the history of the country, said Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) President Salman Aslam.
In a statement on Tuesday, he said that for the first time, the greenback crossed Rs182 mark.
“This is a matter of great concern among the local industrial production circles,” he added. “Ukraine’s protracted war and rising oil prices have hurt the exchange rate of Pakistan and our foreign exchange reserves are dwindling as well.”
The KATI president feared that hike in prices of imported raw material and other commodities used in industries would lead to an increase in locally produced goods that would push the inflation reading upward and trigger unemployment.
The e-commerce sector will also be severely affected, he added. According to him, the increase in prices of local commodities due to supply and demand gap was unjustified.
“If the demand for dollar increases, the value of the dollar may increase but the increase in supply does not show any decrease in prices which is a matter of concern,” said Aslam.
He further emphasised that dollar should be allowed to float freely in the market to some extent.
According to him, the prices of raw material have also gone up while the industrialists continued to face difficulties in fulfilling the import orders.
He appealed to the public to keep the dollar stable for economic stability.
To recall elevated crude oil prices had kept mounting pressure on the rupee.
The rupee freshly depreciated and hit a new all-time low at Rs182.34 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday, according to Pakistan’s central bank data. The rupee has maintained its record-breaking downward movement for the 11th consecutive working day, except Thursday (March 24) when it closed flat on a day-on-day basis.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2022.
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