NO finance minister in the history of Pakistan has given so many statements about the exchange rate as Ishaq Dar has during his last nine months in office.

Why must the finance minister, who is supposed to be the custodian of all confidential information about national economy, predict publicly the movement of exchange rate?

No government official must be allowed to comment on the expected movement of exchange rate because it can be very destabilising for markets.

Dar’s recent statement that dollar will stay around Rs98 created panic in the exchange market. As a result of this unnecessary statement by the finance minister, the importers unleashed their demand and rushed to buy dollars whereas exporters and overseas Pakistani workers withheld their remittances.

Consequently, the dollar went up by one per cent in one day in the inter-bank market. I have noticed that hardly any finance minister in the world predicts openly the movement in the exchange rate of currency.

I have never heard any treasury secretary of the United States or any chancellor of the exchequer of the United Kingdom predicting the exchange rate of his currency because if they do so, they will be badly criticised by the opposition, as well as by the media.

But, strangely here in Pakistan the opposition is dumb about the finance minister’s predictions of exchange rate movement and the media is praising him.

I believe the finance minister must stop predicting publicly the exchange rate movement and, if at all he has to say something on the exchange rate, he should say as finance ministers of advanced countries say that the ‘exchange rate will reflect the economic fundamental of the country which looks bright’.

Ejaz Ahmad Magoon

Lahore