Rupee Depreciates By 7.7 Percent Against US Dollar During Current Govt Tenure, Senate Told

State Minister for Finance and Revenue Hammad Azhar Wednesday said the value of rupee has depreciated by 7.7 percent against US Dollar during the tenure of the current government.

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Nov, 2018 ) :State Minister for Finance and Revenue Hammad Azhar Wednesday said the value of rupee has depreciated by 7.7 percent against US Dollar during the tenure of the current government.

Answering the question of Senator Mian Muhammad Atteeq Shaikh during Senate question hour, he said State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has the mandate to independently manage the Currency and the dollar is appreciated or depreciated as per demand and supply situation.

He said the depreciation in exchange rate during Fiscal Year 17-18, has been due to a notable deterioration in the country's balance of payments. The current account deficit amounts to US$ 12.6 billion and US$ 18.98 billion during fiscal year 2016-17 & 2018-19 respectively which resulted in pressure on Pak rupees and its resultant devaluation.

He said Government of Pakistan/SBP is pursuing monetary tightening to curb aggregate demand which would result in reducing current account deficit. In addition, GoP/SBP has taken administrative measures to reduce import volume, Recently, SBP has withdrawn the facility of advance payments against imports and have imposed 100% cash margin requirement on Import of various non-essential items.

In past, GoP had imposed custom duties on luxury items.

In the amended Finance Bill 2018, he said the GoP has again proposed to increase the duties on import of luxury items to curb the imports. Whereas, export industries have been incentivized to boost exports. The depreciation of Pak Rupee against US Dollar along with the increased policy rate and other administrative measures mentioned above would help contain domestic demand in general, and reduce the imbalances in the country's external accounts in particular.

Giving details of last five years, he said Pak rupee-US$ closing rate was Rs 98.80 as the value of rupees appreciated by 0.9 percent during financial year 2013-14.

Rupee exchange value was depreciated by 13.7 percent during FY 2017-18;The depreciation ratio of rupee exchange ratio was 2.9 percent during FY 2015-16and FY 2014-15.