ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry has expressed concern over the falling value of the rupee against the dollar as it has hit an all-time high of 113 against a dollar in the open market. It called upon the government to take urgent measures to bring stability in the value of domestic currency as the continuous fall in the value of rupee will bring imported inflation in the country and curtail domestic demand leading to further slowdown in the economic growth of the country.
Sheikh Amir Waheed, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that, after hectic efforts of the government, Pakistan’s economy was marching towards stabilization. However the falling value of rupee will push the economy from low inflation and high growth to high inflation and low growth period that will not be in the best interest of the country. He said the slowdown in the economic growth and curtailed domestic demand will adversely affect employment generation and give rise to a new wave of price-hike in the country.
He said Pakistan mostly depends on imported capital goods and raw material for industry, but the falling value of rupee will make all imported goods and raw material costly. It will also increase the prices of petroleum products and further enhance the cost of debt servicing leading to more pressure on our forex reserves.
He said the rupee depreciation may provide some incentives to the export sector of the country but, due to rise in the cost of imports, production cost will further go up that will affect the competitiveness of our exports. He said Pakistan’s imports are much higher compared to its exports and rupee depreciation will thus bring more problems to the overall economy.
Sheikh Amir Waheed requested the government and The State Bank of Pakistan to take urgent measures to arrest this dangerous trend of falling value of rupee. He cautioned that if rupee continues to fall further, it will bring many difficulties to the general public due to rising inflation and also badly affect the trade and industrial activities due to cut in purchasing power of the consumers ultimately leading to further slump in the economic activities of the country.
