ISLAMABAD: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s Businessmen Panel (BMP) has asked the central bank to keep on its regulatory and stern monitoring of the foreign exchange operations of the banks and money market with a view to control the volatility in the rupee-dollar exchange rate.

The BMP Chairman Mian Anjum Nisar said that it’s a positive indication that the rupee has started to appreciate against greenback majorly due to less import and partially owing to the SBP’s strict monitoring of the foreign exchange operations, suspending the operations of several branches of some exchange companies for violation of SBP regulations.

Mian Anjum expected that with controlled import bill and lower trade deficit, the rupee is expected to gradually strengthen. He said that the rupee depreciation has been overdone and driven by only sentiments. The rupee has overshot due to concerns about domestic politics and the IMF program. The local currency had fallen by Rs52 or 23 percent in 2022 and Rs19 or 8 percent during the last two weeks on fears of delay in the IMF program, falling FX reserves and increased political noise. However, now it has started the recovery and is likely to gain further in the coming days, he hoped.

FPCCI former president said that the actions taken by the SBP along with other good news, helped to improve the exchange rate in the interbank and open currency market, as the Pak rupee recorded the highest gain in absolute terms against US dollar.