Dar credits his policies for decline in dollar

Former finance minister and Leader of the House in Senate Ishaq Dar on Monday said that the international financial institutions considered him an enemy of rupee devaluation, stressing the depreciation in the dollar value today was because of his policies.

During a debate on a motion moved by Senator Kamran Murtaza to discuss the rise in inflation and devaluation of the rupee, Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said that the rupee’s value had improved against the dollar because of the administrative measures adopted by the caretaker government.

The minister told the house that the Pakistani currency would further stabilise after the release of the second tranche of $700 million by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He added that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) was also introducing structural reforms, especially in the currency exchange companies.

Earlier, Dar termed depreciation of the rupee mother of all economic evils.

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“There are characters, who cause losses to the country for their own benefit,” he said. He recalled that in 1999, one day the dollar soared to Rs69 but after a crackdown, it came down to Rs52.
Dar said that the rupee remained stable for four years from 2014.

“The central bank used to intervene to some extent, but the intervention increased to reduce the dollar value during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government,” he added.

“I am considered an enemy of the rupee devaluation by the financial institutions but see what happened when the PTI government left the dollar unfettered on the advice of those financial institutions. How much our debt has increased,” he asked.

Dar stressed that the term of previous coalition government was not enough to fix the economy. “Depreciation destroys the economy. We should come together to find a solution to the devaluation of the rupee,” he said.