WASHINGTON: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, Mr. Miftah Ismail assured markets on Saturday that the Pakistani Rupee would not be devalued any further.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Mr. Ismail claimed that the Rupee had found its “optimal value” following recent devaluations, and the Rupee would now “remain stable.”
The adviser highlighted that the Rupee had been devalued twice recently, and said that with an inflation rate that is “not worrisome”, there was no further need for devaluation.
“I thought the right thing to do was to devalue the currency which we did twice — 5 percent in December, 5 percent in March. Luckily, there hasn’t been any inflation in Pakistan, so far inflation is less than 4 percent for the first nine months, so the government of Pakistan has a lot of policy choices,” he argued.
The adviser also noted that economic growth in the fiscal year 2017-18 had been 5.8%, and said that number would cross 6% in the coming year.
“Next year, we are targeting growth of 6.25 percent. So, I think with the new power plants coming in that we have installed with the help of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, and with other economic activities coming into play for next year, I’m very confident that we should be able to get to 6.25 percent of GDP growth.”
Mr. Ismail also commented on Pakistan’s struggles with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), saying that the country would implement the conditions the FATF has given to Pakistan.
The Foreign Office had claimed in February that Pakistan might be placed on the FATF’s grey list in June because of ‘inadequate’ controls over money laundering and terrorist financing.
