Pakistan's battered rupee rose sharply against the US dollar Monday as the deeply impoverished country began to taste the economic rewards of cooperation with the United States-led war against terrorism.
Forex dealers in this commercial and trading center said the rupee was selling for 64.50 Monday, from 65.70 on Saturday and around 68 before the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
They said the rupee was responding to the lifting of US sanctions, the rescheduling of US loans and Washington's likely support for further assistance to Pakistan from the International Monetary Fund.
Currency stabilization and revenue generation have been key targets of the military government of President Pervez Musharraf since he seized power in a coup in October 1999.
However economists said the stronger rupee would not help boost exports or kick-start industrial activity, which had plunged amid fears of US attacks against the Taliban militia in neighboring Afghanistan.
"It won't benefit the economy as production activities have come to a grinding halt due to the hovering possibility of war," economist Qaiser Bengali said -- KARACHI (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
