SBP Governor says foreign exchange reserves will go up next week

Karachi: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad said that the foreign exchange reserves of the country would go up after massive inflow of the US dollar next week.

The Central bank’s governor said that they would start process to open Letters of Credit (LCs) soon.

He expressed these optimistic words while addressing the business community at the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) in Karachi on Wednesday.

Jameel Ahmed was of the view that the bank wanted to facilitate the traders, adding that the government had to take some tough measures in the wake of widening current account deficit.

He also confessed that there was drop in the imports and the central bank was working to facilitate the process for agriculture sector.

He also stated that 33,000 LCs had been cleared so far, adding that the SBP facilitated shipments under the categories of essential, energy, export-oriented industries, agriculture inputs, deferred payment / self-funded imports and imports for export-oriented projects near completion.

He said, “Our capacity to export will build up only after we complete export-oriented projects, thus we have facilitated the timely completion of these projects,”.

On the occasion, the businessmen and traders complained that there would be more unemployment in the country if the supply chain was not restored.

The traders also said that the prices of pulses would also go up to Rs1,000 per kg in the holy month of Ramadan.

FPCCI President Irfan Sheikh said exporters and importers were looking towards the SBP for resolution of their problems.

Nasir Magu, the ex-president of FPCCI, stated that people who were sitting in the State Bank of Pakistan felt themselves as if they were World Bank and the IMF as there were fears of riots this year in March.

Industrialist Zakaria Usman said an open import of dollars should be allowed on an indvidual basis.

Anjum Nisar, the former FPCCI President, also spoke on the occasion and lamented that the Ministry of Finance and the SBP had no policy to address the crisis.