Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday his government was taking steps to ensure that shortage of dollars does not happen in the future.

Addressing a ceremony to announce the launch of a car manufacturing plant by JW Forland, the prime minister spoke on the dollar reaching an all-time high of Rs 144 in the interbank. “I have been receiving calls since morning about the hike in the dollar price. I want to tell everyone not to worry about the hike. There is an adjustment taking place. We are taking steps which will ensure that there won’t be a shortage of dollars in Pakistan,” he said.

The prime minister highlighted that Pakistan’s biggest problem was the current account deficit which stood at almost $18.5 billion. “The government is tasked with overcoming the deficit. When there is pressure on the dollar, the exchange rate increases,” he added.

Imran Khan said the government was taking all out measures to ensure the ease of doing business in the country and attract foreign investors which would help address the issues of current account deficit and rupee-dollar disparity through enhanced inflows of dollars. The prime minister said the first ever manufacturing plant was being set up in Pakistan.

“Earlier, the companies established their assembling plants but the new joint venture would manufacture the multiple vehicles locally that would initially give jobs to 5,000 Pakistanis and the number would grow to 45,000 in future,” he said, and added that the project would further bring in revenue by exporting the products.

He said for the first time, the government had sought technology transfer from China and the installation of car manufacturing plant was the transfer of the very technology.

He said so far Pakistan had been purchasing the commodities from abroad far more that its exports that had created current account deficit besides closing down the local industry.

He told the gathering that the government had eased sending remittances for overseas Pakistanis and also resolved to curb illegal means of money transfer.

He said currently $10 billion were being laundered annually from Pakistan.

Published in Daily Times, December 1^st 2018.