ISLAMABAD: Amid severe dollar crunch, Pakistan has stopped paying salaries to its foreign missions around the world.
The scarcity of dollars, which first caused issues for importers whose cargo became stalled at the port, is now having an impact on the Pakistani embassy employees.
Pakistan has stopped payments to its embassy staff in the world in foreign currency as the finance ministry did not give approval due to a shortage of dollars, ARY News reported on Friday citing sources.
It has been reported that some Pakistani envoys have been forced to leave their current residences since the rent has not been paid. Additionally, the lack of funds has prevented “essential” work from being done in Pakistani embassies in Pakistan.
They go on to allege that the finance minister ordered the suspension of payments.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s rupee witnessed historic depreciation against the US dollar, settling with a loss of 9.6% in a single session.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves have depleted to a critical level, falling to $3.678 billion in the week ending on Jan 20. This is not enough to finance even three weeks of imports.
This is the lowest level of SBP-held reserves since February 2014.
