On Monday, a Fatwa was declared by Clerics in Pakistan against buying US dollars.
Maulana Tahir Ashrafi is the head of the Pakistan Ulema Council which is a network of Sunni Muslim clerics said, “We have issued a religious order (fatwa) which says that citizens of Pakistan must not collect dollars as hoarding creates chaos.” “Buying dollars unnecessarily must be avoided until such time as our nation comes out of the existing crisis that we face today.”
A well-known cleric Muhammad Taqi Usmani tweeted, “buying dollars for hoarding and make a profit by the rise in its price is a grave sin as well as unfaithfulness in the current financial situation of Pakistan.”
Imran Khan Pakistan Prime Minister struggles with a stability of payments crisis, there has been a rise in the tentative purchasing of U.S. dollars.
There is a fear amongst the buyers that the Pakistani rupee might be further devalued after the Islamabad’s announcement made earlier this month. The declaration was that Pakistan would go forward with a $6 billion IMF (International Money Fund) bailout.
Imran Khan when became prime minister last year inherited an exhausted store of foreign currency. His government has been criticized for taking so long for securing an International Money Fund bailout to reinstate self-assurance having first turned to latent donors like Saudi Arabia and China.
Moreover, last Monday the Pakistani rupee (PKR) hit a record low of 153 rupees per dollar.