When heroically returning to Pakistan as Finance Minister in 2022, Ishaq Dar predicted the Pakistani rupee (PKR) would strengthen to below Rs. 200 against the US dollar without any special intervention or use of foreign exchange reserves.
Well, he was wrong. Four years later, the rupee remains much closer to Rs. 300/$ than Rs. 200.
In a dramatic return to state television, Dar repeatedly said the government would neither intervene in the foreign exchange market nor use the country’s foreign exchange reserves to push the rupee higher because the market was correcting itself.
When asked how soon the dollar would fall below Rs. 200, Dar replied that it was “a matter of days, not weeks.” He credited the rupee’s appreciation to improving market confidence rather than administrative measures.
Dar argued that the dollar’s value at the time was driven by speculation, political uncertainty, and psychological factors. He also assured that market participants themselves had started reversing speculative positions.
The 2022 interview has resurfaced on social media, drawing renewed attention to Dar’s prediction as the exchange rate remains close to Rs. 300 per US dollar years after he said it would fall below Rs. 200 within days.
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