Pakistan Hardware Merchants Association (PHMA) on Wednesday sought the Interior Ministry help over the dollar's value that has broken all the previous records and troubling importers.
PHMA Central Chairman Sardar Usman Ghani said in a statement that State Bank of Pakistan has made it clear that the payment to International Monetary Fund has nothing to do with latest surge in the price of greenback as the bank arranged it from its own sources and not from the open market. Despite the State Bank's clarification on the issue, the dollar is fast heading to cross the psychological barrier of Rs 100 for a dollar.
Ghani said that the Interior Minister Rehman Malik should direct the Federal Investigation Agency to take action against the black sheep who are creating artificial shortage in the market and are troubling the businessmen. He said that the surge in the prices have dented the importers to the maximum. He also urged the government to evolve a mechanism to stop this practice that always causes irreparable loss to the economy. He said that the hardware merchants association for being the main stakeholder to the issue is ready to play its role. He said that an acute shortage of electricity had already destroyed the very economic fabric of the country and that Large Scale manufacturing had gone down therefore the government must take action against those who were playing with economy to achieve their ulterior motives.
Ghani said that if the government wants to achieve economic targets in the next financial year it would have to strengthen its liaison with the private sector that would be helping it in implementation of its policies. The rise in dollar price was not only hitting the importers but also jacking up the country's import bill, he added.