Faisal Moiz Khan, President North Karachi Association of Trade & Industry (NKATI), while expressing deep concerns over rising dollar which hit a new all-time high by crossing Rs226 in the inter-bank market, urged State Bank of Pakistan to adopt effective strategies to stabilize the rupee and curb the continued appreciation of the dollar, which has reached a new high of Rs 226.
In a statement, President NKATI said that rising the Dollar will have very negative effects on the industrial production activities while the country’s economy will also be badly affected and a storm of inflation will come. The ongoing political ups and downs in the country are in place but the State Bank of Pakistan needs to play its role as a regulator to prevent the dollar from soaring and the rupee from falling.
Faisal Moiz was the opinion that the continued appreciation of the dollar against the rupee has led to an enormous increase in industrial costs, making Pakistani products less competitive in export markets and unsustainably increasing commodity prices in domestic markets.
“The appreciation of the dollar has more than doubled the cost of industrial raw materials, making it difficult to sustain production activities, and the industrial community fears that if the rupee continues to depreciate and the dollar continues to rise, timely fulfilment of export orders will not be possible,” he informed.
NKATI president further said that the energy crisis, high rates of electricity, gas, taxes have already significantly increased the cost of production and now the continuous increase in the value of the dollar will sink the industries, which will lead to flood of unemployment and domestic exports will also be affected, so the central bank should adopt a strategy to curb the dollar price hike, otherwise it will become difficult to run the industries.
