KARACHI: The dollar has disappeared from the open market run by exchange companies and there are reports that the US currency is trading at a higher price in the parallel gray market.
“This is the reality. The dollar is not available in the open market, but the gray market is offering it as high as Rs 232, making trading in the legal currency meaningless,” said Zafar Paracha, secretary general of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan. said
In the open market on Tuesday, the dollar was 223 rupees 50 paise. In the interbank market, it gained for the fifth consecutive day and closed at Rs 219.71, up 0.37 per cent.
The widening gap between the open and interbank markets has also threatened remittances sent by Pakistanis working abroad through banks. Inflows already fell from $300 million a month to $2.4 billion in September.
The central bank has tightened rules for currency trading in the open market to control outflows and keep prices within a certain range to keep the exchange rate stable. However, a gray market has now emerged which is strengthening with the dollar shortage in the open market.
We should not ignore Afghanistan’s role in this gray market. The Afghan government has given its people one month to convert all their Pakistani rupee holdings into any currency,” Mr Pracha said.
He said the dollar was selling as high as 236 rupees in Peshawar, mostly bought by Afghan nationals as the US currency was trading at 238 rupees in Kabul.
