ISLAMABAD: Tax advisory firm Tola Associates has claimed that the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) market-based exchange rate policy has overvalued the US dollar against the Pakistani rupee by Rs. 67.
As per the details, in a brief market review, the firm argued that without the IMF’s restrictions, the rupee-dollar exchange rate would have been at Rs. 211.5 by October.
The firm said that if the rupee had been worth Rs. 211.5, July-October inflation could have been reduced to 4.67 percent, interest rates would have been below 2 percent, and the government would have saved Rs. 6.4 trillion for economic growth.
Tola Associates’ estimates are based on average rupee-dollar values between fiscal years 2022-2024. Tola Associates says that without the IMF’s conditions, the rupee would have been much lower than Rs. 278/$ in 2023-24.
The firm also suggested that if the rupee had been worth Rs. 211.5/$, Pakistan could have saved Rs. 475 billion in debt repayments through lower interest rates.
