KARACHI: A committee investigating the rupee’s sudden depreciation against the dollar last month is expected to submit its report next week, according to banking sources.

The spokesman for the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Abid Qamar, did not state the exact date of submission. But he confirmed the imminent submission of the report.

“The probe committee is about to conclude its job. Hopefully, it will submit the report very soon,” he told Dawn.

SBP earlier said the exchange rate adjustment would address the emerging imbalance in external account

The rupee’s value against the dollar went down 3.1 per cent on July 5, jolting the currency market. It led to a sharp reaction from the finance minister who held an emergency meeting with the heads of all commercial banks next day. The rupee regained most of its lost value subsequently.

Following the sudden movement in the exchange rate, the government quickly appointed a full-time governor of the SBP. Until then, an acting governor was in charge of the central bank.

The government directed the SBP to initiate an enquiry into the sudden movement in the interbank market.

The SBP constituted a committee headed by one of its senior officials while the deputy governor – who was acting governor at the time of depreciation – was also part of the probe committee.

The spokesman said the report will be submitted to the Ministry of Finance.

Interestingly, the move to depreciate the rupee was owned by the SBP through a press statement. It said the adjustment was needed to bring a balance in the exchange rate. Now the same institution is heading the probe committee that is looking into the SBP’s approval for depreciation.

The spokesman was tight-lipped about the findings of the investigation. But sources in the financial sector said there will hardly be anything ‘harmful’ in the report. A number of banks were also questioned with regard to the depreciation.

The ministry had demanded that the report be submitted within 10 days. But 38 days have passed since then and yet the ministry does not seem insistent on demanding that the report be submitted immediately.

Independent economists believe the depreciation in the value of the rupee is required to improve exports and control the massive increase in imports.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2017