Forex Association of Pakistan Chairman Malik Bostan said that the rupee was gaining value against the dollar because exchange companies ‘surrendered’ $20 million dollars.

Bostan said that the improvement in the rupee’s value had come about because of Army Chief General Asim Munir’s efforts in cracking down on hoarding and black marketing.

He said that a taskforce set up specially for the task by the army chief had been active in recent days and multiple people involved in hoardign currency have been arrested.

Bostan said that the surrendereing of dollars by ECs had brought down the rate in interbank to Rs302 from Rs305. He added that the crackdowns had brought the open market rate below the bank rate for the first time in over a year.

He said that there were no buyers in the market for dollars right now.

The statement from Bostan comes soon after reports emerged that the government was planning a crackdown on people smuggling and hoarding dollars.

The crackdown was planned a few days after the dollar’s value crossed the Rs300 mark for the first time in the country’s history.

The matter also came up in Army Chief General Asim Munir’s meeting with traders in Karachi, where businessmen complained that the gap between the dollar’s interbank and open market rate and its spiralling value were creating uncertainty for businesses.

The dollar’s value has far reaching impacts on Pakistan’s economy, in large part due to the fact that it determines the price of imported fuel which in turn is a key factor in inflation.