Signs of panic are now appearing in foreign currency markets as the dollar touched Rs148 in open trading on Friday and the information minister announced that “a full-fledged operation against dollar hoarding and speculative currency trade” is going to be launched. Meanwhile, the finance minister issued a renewed assurance that the “rupee is in equilibrium” and “there is no reason for big devaluations”.
The open market has been shrugging off the government’s assurances for a long time. On Friday, the State Bank held its third meeting in five days with the heads of exchange companies to find ways of bringing the open market rate under control. Like the previous such meetings, this one too appeared to have ended inconclusively.
Following the meeting, Forex Association of Pakistan president Malik Bostan told Dawn that it had been decided that only genuine buyers could buy dollars from the open market. However, he said there was no discussion about any impending crackdown or law enforcement action of any sort.
