Senate Committee Recommends More Punishment Against Banks for Manipulating Currency

The Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs has decided to recommend further action against banks that were complicit in the 2022 currency manipulation. This was decided during the panel’s meeting earlier today. The committee has further demanded a comprehensive report within two weeks and instructed relevant chambers to participate in the next session to discuss the opening of expensive Letters of Credit (LCs) for US Dollars. It was discussed how commercial banks earned Rs. 65 billion in 2022 by selling US Dollars at extortionately higher rates. Committee chairman Senator Saifullah Abro said this money belongs to the people and should be recovered from the banks. Officials of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) told the committee that the responsible banks were fined Rs. 1.4 billion. One participant was irked at the lowly penalty and pointed out that it was just a fraction of the Rs. 65 billion profit that these banks made. The committee directed the Ministry of Economic Affairs to ensure the recovery of these funds and sought a detailed report from SBP on the matter.