With crackdown US dollar declines, who gains and who losses

The question is, who was the gainers and who is the loser — the reply is the previous government of PDM earned too much — while general public lose millions of rupees in this crack down

KARACHI: After initiating the crackdown against the currency dealers and the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP), the greenback went down by Rs 15 in the Interbank Market and above Rs 35 in the open currency market.

 The Dollar is closed at Rs 291.76 in the interbank market and Rs 293.50 in open currency market today. The IMF is not happy over it, but it is silent because of a technical game. The IMF wanted to keep the parity of dollar in the interbank and free market at 1.25 per cent.

Most of the sources in the interbank and free market said that the main reason behind it the crackdown started by the Law Enforcing Agencies including Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

But the question is, who was the gainers and who is the loser – and the reply is the previous government of PDM earned too much — while the general public lose millions of rupees in this crack down.

The decision of the crackdown was appreciated in most the circles as it will control the rising inflation and the government debts, which were persistently increasing with the hike of dollar.

However, the exchange companies are still purchasing dollar below Rs 8 to Rs 10 from the rates of ECAP and currency dealers. There is now law to purchase or sell.

If, the deliberately manipulation in currency market is illegal so the government should also investigate this matter who have earned through this illegal practice. Only in the PDM government, the Pak-Rupee devalued above Rs 122 in last 16 months.

We are still unknown, who was behind the smuggling of dollar to Afghanistan and Hawala and Hundi.

The recent action of the Law enforcing agencies helped to bring the dollar below Rs 300 from its peak Rs 307.10 in interbank and Rs 228 in free Market on September 5.

The FIA has also planned a comprehensive crackdown against illegal money changers and those involved in the Hawala and Hundi business, and it has decided to involve almost all its circles to work jointly against the menace.

FIA officials, during the recent crackdown, have arrested eight suspects and also recovered millions of foreign currency including US dollar and equipment used in the Hawala business. Meanwhile this crackdown is still on-going in different cities of the country.

The FIA director said that work upon the cancellation of bail of the accused mentioned in Hundi and Hawala FIRs should be carried out, and the investigations in these cases should be thoroughly conducted and written for mutual legal assistance as soon as possible.

It was further directed that the names of the accused in the FIRs in which the final challan had been submitted should be sent to this directorate with the recommendation of Interpol.

Moreover, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should be informed about exchange companies involved in Hundi-Hawala and inquiries should be completed on merit in time. The meeting further decided that raids should be carried out on proper information.

The team is also investigating number of exchange companies and the currency dealers in Pakistan. Meanwhile, the main currency market in Peshawar has been shut down for last two weeks. Only few authorized and registered dealers are working there.

According to the media reports, during crackdown on smugglers and elements involved in Hundi /Hawala and illegally operating exchange companies, eight raids were carried out against the involved elements. As a result of these operations, 11 accused were arrested and eight cases were registered and they also sealed shops and offices used by the accused during raids.

Meanwhile, the State Bank also decided to eliminate the B category type currency exchange in Pakistan. They have been asked to get ‘A’ category currency exchange license in next 3 months, otherwise they would have to close their businesses.

The next direction of the State Bank was for the big banks to open their currency exchange for the people who needed foreign currencies to travel for education, Umarah, Haj etc.

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