‘Rupee devaluation to hurt economy’

LAHORE: Rapid rupee devaluation will hurt the country’s economy, besides scaring off international investors; therefore, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should control this dilemma without wasting a single moment.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, LCCI President Malik Tahir Javaid, Senior Vice President Khawaja Khawar Rashid and Vice President Zeeshan Khalil said that the rupee devaluation would lead to lower industrial productivity, surge debts, harm already struggling exports, hike inflation, and reduce the purchasing power of the masses that would pose serious challenges for the economy.

The surge in dollar price will increase the import bill, as all imported oil, raw materials and other essentials prices will go high, they added. The LCCI office-bearers said an unchecked increase in the dollar rate will multiply the cost of doing business and badly affect the industrial, manufacturing and agriculture sectors, as Pakistan has to import fertilisers, food items, oil, machinery and industrial raw material.

The economy was already under tremendous pressure owing to multiple internal and external challenges it has been facing for the last several years, they said and suggested the government to immediately introduce institutional reforms and curtail non-development expenditures for the sake of the country’s economy and its people.