Govt takes proactive measures to stabilise economy: Shamshad
Business
Govt takes proactive measures to stabilise economy: Shamshad
ISLAMABAD (APP) – Caretaker Minister of Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Division, Dr Shamshad Akhtar on Thursday said the caretaker government took proactive steps to stabilise the economy and build market confidence.
The government’s stabilisation efforts are anchored around the IMF stabilisation package, she said in a briefing to the Senate Committee on Faience and Revenue which met in the Parliament House, said a press release issue here.
The minister said that the IMF disbursed $ 1.2 billion in July 2023. She said this has also led to the disbursement of $3bn in bilateral assistance (KSA $ 2bn, UAE $ 1bn). As a result, the SBP FX reserves have increased to $ 7.6bn (1.5 months of import cover) in September, from $ 4.5bn (0.9 months of import) in June. She said the government has normalized trade and investment flows.
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“We have removed the import ban that badly impacted the availability of raw materials for the industry. The government has relaxed import restrictions, leading to the opening of L/Cs for imports and the backlog of import payments (Jan-Jul) has now been cleared.
“Similarly, foreign investors have been allowed to repatriate profits (withheld since 2022), with $ 49.2 million repatriated during Jul-Aug, an increase of 74 percent. The caretaker government has taken appropriate actions to stabilise the volatility and speculation in the exchange rate market. Actions taken by SBP on exchange companies and crackdown against illegal transactions have helped to reduce the spreads between interbank and open market,” she said.
As a result, the PKR has strengthened to 289 against the US$ in the interbank market, an appreciation of 6.4 percent from 307.1 (05th Sep). In the open market, PKR has strengthened 13 percent by 290. She said the spread between the interbank and open market has declined to less than 1 percent (from over 9 percent).
