Govt in anxiety over rupee’s slide

Pakistan’s bigwigs have failed to craft an effective strategy to stop the free fall of the local currency, as policy discussions have so far remained focused on better management of borders and trade related payments. According to official documents and background discussions with people involved in the process, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has taken numerous meetings in recent days and also set up a committee under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Miftah Ismail “to stabilise foreign currency markets”. Despite taking input from the intelligence agencies, however, the authorities have failed to arrest the free fall of the currency. Continuing with the downtrend, the rupee on Monday closed at Rs237.91 to a dollar in the interbank. The rate in the open market was far above, trading around Rs244 to Rs246 to a dollar. The constant downfall of the local currency has also eroded the gain of reduction in crude oil prices and people are forced to pay the highest rates in the country’s history. Last Monday, the PM Shehbaz had set up a committee to review the dwindling currency situation. The committee met the next day and finalised its interim recommendations for the PM.