A senior official from Pakistan’s intelligence agency met with currency exchange companies this week amid a steep decline in the rupee, prompting a crackdown on black market dollar trading, Reuters reported on Thursday quoting Malik Muhammad Bostan, chairman of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan.
This marks the second such intervention, following a similar army-led effort in 2023 that halted a previous sharp fall in the currency and helped stabilize the exchange rate until recently.
Currency dealers report renewed pressure on the rupee due to dollar hoarding, cross-border smuggling, and banking restrictions, which have pushed demand toward unregulated dealers offering more attractive or faster rates.
Following the meeting, security forces, including the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), began targeting illegal currency dealers, many of whom have since gone into hiding, Bostan said.
He noted that the open market dollar rate fell by Rs. 1 after the intervention, attributing the drop to the enforcement actions and an improved dollar supply in the market.