KARACHI: Chairman of the Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) Altaf Shakoor has said that to tackle the ongoing economic crisis and lessen pressure on Pakistani rupee it is necessary to opt for external trade in currencies other than dollar wherever possible.

He said it’s a fact that the US dollar is dominant in global trade, but bilateral trade with Russia, China, Iran, the Gulf states and many other countries can be conducted in other currencies.

He said Pakistan can hugely appreciate the value of its rupee if trade with China is done in Chinese Yuan. Similar practices could be adopted for trade with Central Asian republics, Russia, Iran, and Gulf states, etc. where possible.

The PDP chief said: “We should not put all our eggs in the dollar basket but also promote bilateral trade in other currencies.”

He said that dominance of dollar trade and the killer debt trap have destroyed the economy and turned the country into a slave of global capitalist system led by the US.

Altaf Shakoor said that international lending institutions are only interested in sucking the blood of poor countries like Pakistan. “They have nothing to do with our welfare and progress or wellbeing of our poor masses. They have their own axe to grind.”

Quoting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at LDCs conference in Doha, he said the rich countries are exploiting the poor nations cruelly. He said that the wealthy nations should provide $500 billion a year to help others “trapped in vicious cycles”.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023