Afghan firms smuggling dollars from Pakistan

[dr.umer]

Afghan firms smuggling dollars from Pakistan​

11 Nov 2008

LAHORE: While Pakistan is often accused of fomenting trouble across the border in Afghanistan, this time Islamabad has held certain Afghan-based exchange companies responsible for facilitating illegal export of US dollars from Pakistan to Afghanistan, thus causing a massive devaluation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar.

This disclosure has been made in an official communiqu from State Bank Governor Shamshad Akhtar to Interior Adviser Rehman Malik with a request to investigate the matter, besides ensuring that more vigilance is exercised on currencysmuggling. The letter has apparently been written in the backdrop of intelligence reports that the greenback is being smuggled in huge quantity from Pakistan into Afghanistan, which has primarily caused decline in the rupee value to the historic lowest level of over Rs80 against the dollar.

As a matter of fact, a large number of Pakistani and Afghan currency dealers are buying dollars in huge quantity from Peshawar market and are smuggling it into Afghanistan. According to rough estimates, some 4-5 million dollars per day are being smuggled to Afghanistan, while the rising demand of the dollar has also increased its value against other currencies. It was in this backdrop that the State Bank had stopped the supply of dollar to the exchange companies, as some of them were acquiring one dollar at Rs80 from the central bank and selling at Rs82-83 in the Peshawar market.

Identifying an Afghanistan-based exchange company namely “Shirkatul Ansar”, the SBP governor has stated in her letter that “the level of physical export of US dollar to Afghanistan for onward export to Dubai has rapidly increased since the dollar mostly fetches a better exchange rate at Afghanistan and then it is exported to Dubai for conversion into the UAE Dirham”. Elaborating, the governor writes in her letter to the interior adviser: “In addition to finding a comfortable place for onward journey to Dubai via Afghanistan, US dollar is also being exported to Afghanistan for onward wire transfers to China for payment/settlements of trade transactions with China.” While identifying loopholes in the prevailing money transfer system, particularly the working of Afghanistan-based banks and companies, the governor states in the same letter: “The Telegraphic Transfer charges of Afghan banks are very competitive with inadequate adherence to Know Your Customer (KYC) standard.” In this connection, the letter adds, a prominent company active in this illegal business is “Shirkatul Ansar” which is based in Afghanistan.

According to highly-placed officials in the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) which has already arrested owners of several leading exchange companies, including the market leader, Khanani & Kalia, on charges of smuggling millions of dollars abroad, the Pakistani authorities have successfully traced out the missing links in the smuggling of US dollar from Pakistan to Afghanistan. From now onwards, these officials say, the movement of currency through available routes—both land and air—will remain under extreme vigilance of the FIA within whose domain these routes function. For the purpose of tracing the routes of US dollar making its way outside Pakistan through Afghanistan for onward journey to Dubai and China, a mass scale exercise is also being carried out to furnish details of the flights schedule—both domestic and international—with a view to keep a vigilant eye on suspected movements.

 

[dr.umer]

This matter should be raised internationally by GOP.