Hyderabad Chamber warns of food crisis.

HYDERABAD -- The Hyderabad Chamber of CommAerce and Industry (HCCI) on Monday expressed concern over the US dollar's continued upward march and the Pakistani rupee's depreciation, saying the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) should come up with a clear policy on the dollar's availability.

HCCI President Adeel Siddiqui feared that food insecurity could become a serious issue in the country if the dollar keeps rising because the country spends the second-highest amount of foreign exchange on the imports of edible oil after crude oil.

He said that Pakistan was already going through a severe energy crisis and crude oil, which has a major share in electricity production, was imported. He wondered whether such production was sustainable given the present economic condition and continued rupee devaluation. He said it was worrying industrialists.

Mr Siddiqui feared commercial banks were earning profit in the garb of the devaluation of the Pakistani rupee. He said that if SBP doesn't have dollars, then Pakistan is all set to face the food security issue.

He observed banks were not quoting dollar rates by Monday morning and when the interbank rate was opened it was quoted at Rs213. But, he said, by noon it rose to Rs214. He said traders who had opened their letters of credit (LCs) would face serious issues if dollars were not readily available to make payments to their foreign counterparts for their deals.

He...

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