KARACHI: The Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) has opposed deployment of personnel of law enforcement agencies at exchange companies for monitoring of dollar trading.
According to Zafar Paracha, General Secretary ECAP, it came to the notice of the association that a policeman came to a branch of exchange companies in Gujranwala without any authority letter to monitor the exchange business.
The said policeman claimed that he had been instructed by Hashim Gujar, SP Gujranwala Special Branch, to sit in the branch and check dollar sales/purchases and customers during the whole day.
“This deployment created panic among exchange companies and immediately we contacted the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and discussed the issue in detail. SBP officials were also unaware of this exercise,” Paracha informed.
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He said that as per rules and regulations, nobody without the approval of the SBP can visit or raid an exchange company, and the SBP official clarified that SBP has not issued such directives to police for monitoring of exchange companies.
Paracha said that ECAP has requested the law enforcement agencies to take strict action against the illegal traders and market movers to control the volatility in the money market and accordingly FIA arrested some people from Peshawar. As a result, there was not a single buyer and seller in the market and Pak Rupee appreciated in the open currency market on Tuesday. Dollar was trading at Rs 324 against the dollar on Tuesday down from Rs 328 on Monday.
He said ECAP fully supports the government to keep the exchange rate stable at its real value; however, this type of activities will discourage the legal business and encourage the illegal or black market of the currency exchange.
Paracha said that Pak rupee would appreciate in the coming months if the government took appropriate measures as suggested by the ECAP.
However, Malik Bostan Chairman Forex Association of Pakistan, said that action by the law enforcement agencies is acceptable but it must be against illegal money changers to control the illegal outflow of the dollar and make the Pak rupee stronger.
He said that several people are buying dollars on rumours of default and illegal money changers are offering better rates compared to the open market. He said exchange companies fully support the government’s initiatives for stability in the currency market.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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