Dollar demand to reduce next month due to falling imports: Miftah.

ISLAMABAD -- Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Miftah Ismail Thursday said the pressure on Pak rupee would start receding from next month with persistent decrease in imports.

Addressing a press conference here along with Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Miftah Ismail said the domestic financial markets were jolted after the Punjab Assembly bye-elections on July 17 but the situation was now under control as the coalition government had resolved to complete its tenure.

The current month's imports were less as compared to the last month and the same month of previous year, he added.

The minister observed that the fresh pressure on the rupee against dollar was mainly due to the political turmoil as the people felt that the federal government might not stand, but when the latter made it clear that it would complete its tenure, the negative sentiments subsided immediately.

"The other issue is that last month the country's import bill of $7.5 billion was historically high, $3.7 billion of them related to the energy sector and the rest $3.7 billion was of other goods. The pressure on the rupee is now mounting due to payments of these imports," he added.

He said the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) took multiple measures due to which very few letters of credit (L/Cs) were opened. "In the current month, imports will fall and further reduce in next month."

Miftah Ismail explained that the country had a...