LAHORE: Federal Minister for Commerce Engineer Khurram Dastgir has said that previously the value of rupee had gone down due to speculations in the market but now it has risen again to normal level.
Dastgir said that people were speculating that the government had a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) devalue rupee down to the level of Rs 125 a dollar and some politicians even challenged the government to bring it down under Rs 100 mark.
He said that the government was keen to bring stability in rupee’s value for the economic development in the country. Khurram Dastgir said although it was true that a large number of traders had to face huge loss due to sudden change in foreign exchange rate but he hoped that now the market would get stable and would move in a narrow range.
He also turned down the arguments that the reduction in rupee value was due to the fact that the government had sold out US dollars in bulk in the market saying that it happened due to overall economic growth being witnessed in the country.
He said as the overall economy strengthened, the investors who were holding US dollars have started investing in different sectors resulting in outflow of US dollars in the market.
On the issue of restrictions imposed under SRO 760 by the government on registration process of gemstone exporters with Trade Development Authority (TDAP), the minister said that the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) had removed the restrictions.
Dastgir further said that issue of lifting ban on livestock import from USA, Canada, EU and other countries was deferred for the time being by the ECC.
