News Desk
ISLAMABAD: The open market’s currency dealers on Sunday offered to finance imports of up to 50,000 dollars each to help the government mitigate the default risk after the foreign currency reserves of the country depleted to a twenty-five-day import cover on Saturday.
Zafar Paracha, Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) General Secretary, said that they have already given the proposal to the Minister of Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar in a recent meeting and they are awaiting the government’s response.
Paracha said that dealers may finance imports (letters of credit /LCs) worth 200-250 million dollars in the coming month. The financing will be offered at 255 rupees per dollar, as compared to 227 rupees per dollar in the interbank market. He said that the rate of the dollar has spiked to 270 rupees in the black market.
Essential imports to be prioritized
He said that they will prioritize financing essential imports like medicine and other items.
Paracha said that dealers will expedite their efforts to arrange the additional funding by attracting more remittances into the country and agreeing to sell the amount parked at homes.
The foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan are estimated to have decreased to a nine-year low at $4.56 billion after the government repaid commercial loans worth over 1 billion dollars.
