Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Friday urged the government to take immediate measures to arrest dollar flight against the Pak rupee.
LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir, Senior Vice President Mian Rehman Aziz Chan and Vice Presi-dent Haris Ateeq told media here that the State Bank of Pakistan should take stringent measures to control the continuous rise in dollar price.
They added that exorbitant devaluation is taking place as the inter-bank dollar rate has plunged to over Rs 200. This essentially means that a devaluation of around 6 percent has taken place in the last one month only.
The LCCI office-bearers said that the main cause of the devaluation in recent times has been the political uncertainty, rise in global crude oil prices and a burgeoning trade deficit which has surpassed USD 39 billion in the first 10 months of the current finan-cial year.
They said, “Since our Industry heavily relies on imports of raw materials, components and machinery, this devaluation has resulted in an increase in the cost of production.” The new government should take all possible measures to strengthen the local currency. There needs to be a renewed focus on import substitution and enhancing exports besides creating an environment of political stability. The imports of non-essential and luxury items should be curtailed, they added.
LCCI President Mian Nauman Kabir said that trade in local currencies, particularly with China, will help Pakistan to end the burden of relying on USD in bilateral trade and to bring down the trade deficit.
