Islamabad (National Times)- PML-N leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar revealed that the US dollar can come down to Rs160 in a few months when \u201cfiscal and monetary policies are fixed\u201d, Business Recorder reported.<\/p>\n
During an interview with the Aaj News, Dar maintained that the rupee-dollar parity will improve once Pakistan\u2019s economy is steered in the right direction, citing the previous government\u2019s \u201cincompetence\u201d as the prime reason behind the rupee\u2019s record-breaking downward streak.<\/p>\n
During the PML-N’s tenure, the government kept the rupee strong against the US dollar which irked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and exporters, who argued that keeping the currency \u201cartificially strong\u201d negatively affects the economy in the long run.<\/p>\n
However, Dar mentioned that the rupee-dollar parity cannot be administratively controlled beyond “limited intervention”.<\/p>\n
“Dollar cannot be administratively (controlled) \u2014 you can intervene in a limited way. Economic fundamentals need to be right, inflation needs to be in control, the fiscal deficit needs to be in control, while foreign exchange reserves need to be at the right level.”<\/p>\n
When categorically asked by the host if the rupee could strengthen to Rs160 against the greenback, Dar said “it can”.<\/p>\n
“God willing, it can. But you will have to work hard for it. You will need to fix economic policy. You will need to take fiscal and monetary measures as well as set economic direction. Revenue has to be increased. Once the direction is right, the dollar can be stabilised.”<\/p>\n
Regarding inflation, the PML-N leaders blamed the previous government\u2019s decision to give a \u201cfreehand\u201d to the exchange rate.<\/p>\n
Calling it the \u201cmother of all evils\u201d, he said: “When inflation started rising, they increased the interest rate, attracting ‘hot money. When the pandemic came, they decreased the interest rate, and an outflow of dollars occurred.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Islamabad (National Times)- PML-N leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar revealed that the US dollar can come down to Rs160 in a few months when \u201cfiscal and monetary policies are fixed\u201d, Business Recorder reported. During an interview with the Aaj News, Dar maintained that the rupee-dollar parity will improve once Pakistan\u2019s economy is steered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n