Sources told The Express Tribune that the Ministry of Finance has instructed government departments to prepare budget estimates for the fiscal year 2023-24 using the Rs290 to a dollar exchange rate. This rate is crucial for determining the defence budget, foreign debt servicing, the cost of running Pakistan’s missions abroad, and the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). For the outgoing fiscal year, the government had set the rupee-dollar parity at Rs186 to a dollar for budget purposes. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has requested Pakistan to share its foreign exchange policy due to the significant gap between the interbank and open market rates. The Ministry of Defence has requested a budget of Rs1.92 trillion, while the finance ministry has indicated Rs1.7 trillion thus far.

Source: The Express Tribune May 31, 2023 07:30 UTC