LAHORE– State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir has said stabilizing the country’s economy is their top priority and that the economy is gradually improving.
The reasons behind the increasing trade deficit in recent years was absence of a market-based exchange rate, he added.
“In previous years, whenever the trade deficit increased, the exchange rate did not adjust as it was kept fixed. And it led to increase in the deficit since there was an intervention in the system,” Dr Raza Baqir said while talking to the business community under the leadership of Abdul Rauf Mukhtar, Regional Chairman FPCCI here at the regional office of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) on Sunday.
Reza Baqir expressed that a lot of loss is suffered when the money in exchequer ends. “It is our priority to bring sustainable growth in the bank business and the situation is better now than it was six months ago”, he added.
He said that the reforms have been brought and the agreement is signed with the IMF. “State Bank doesn’t have the solution of all the problems whereas SME is also a priority,” he added.
We have brought the exchange rate in the market system by devising a policy that ensures monitoring of supply and demand movements,he added.
The SBP chief claimed that due to a sustained policy focus, the country’s exports had increased by 10 to 20 per cent. The government, he said, desired increase in profitability of private business and to promote employment.
“And if the private sector still has some issues with the public sector, the government would make all out efforts to remove hurdles.”
“We believe in competition, as without this we cannot progress. So the private sector must come forward and do its part for the prosperity of this country,” he said.— PRESS RELEASE
