TRUE to the expectations that people of Pakistan have, new Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is proving his mettle by taking concrete moves to resolve chronic economic problems of the country and provide relief to the masses.
He started journey towards this end right on assumption of the challenging job of managing the country’s economy during these tough times from the very first day and his interview to a news channel on Monday strengthened the belief of the people that Dar has the ability and vision to deliver.
It is generally believed and rightly so that the unending spree of inflation has much to do with the exchange rate and that is why all eyes are set on the Finance Minister as to what he does to catch the bull by the horn.
The rupee is already on the upward trajectory ever since the return of Mr.Dar to his homeland from London and on Monday he assured the nation that the dollar would be brought down below 200 rupee.
He maintained that the actual value of the Pakistani rupee is less than 200 against the greenback and it will be brought down, as it is currently undervalued.
Similar views were held then by PTI’s Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen who believed the actual value of rupee was around 160 or 170 but he miserably failed to arrest the trend of steep devaluation.
The process gained further momentum during the last few months of the incumbent Government when speculators including some major banks played havoc with the local currency exploiting the one point focus of averting the feared default.
Dar managed the economy for three times in the past and pursued policies which stabilized the rupee and in turn helped arrest the inflation and there is no reason he would not succeed this time, especially when he is fully motivated for the purpose and is alive to the sufferings of the people and its political cost for the Government.
The Finance Minister was fully confident that he would be able to manage things despite apprehensions being expressed by some circles including some people from the ruling party as well who are expressing apprehensions about the cost of any move that could offend the IMF.
We hope he would remain firm on his pledges vis-à-vis exchange rate stability as the issue is directly linked to the prices of POL products, electricity tariff and general inflation – problems that are giving sleepless nights to the ordinary citizen.
