Dr Shamshad for action against black marketers

KARACHI: Dr Shamshad Akhter, Chairperson, Pakistan Stock Exchange has acknowledged the need of cracking down against black-market operators and assured of full support during her visit to the Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX) on Monday.

PMEX Managing Director Ejaz Ali Shah welcomed Dr Shamshad and apprised her about the role being played by the PMEX in developing a vibrant and robust futures market in Pakistan. The average daily trading volume at PMEX has surged to Rs11.78 billion in 2021 from Rs3.70 billion in 2015, resulting in a tripling of trading volumes during the last 5 years.

Underscoring the challenges faced by the PMEX, Shah highlighted the operations of black-market operators in Pakistan. These black-market operators not only eat up PMEX business, but also cause heavy drainage of the country’s foreign exchange reserves. He sought the help of Dr Shamshad in cracking down on these black-market operators.

Dr Shamshad acknowledged the need of cracking down operations of the black-market operators and assured of her fullest support in eradicating this menace.

Shah also briefed about the direct fund model (DFM), under which the PMEX directly collects funds from customers as well as transfers funds to their bank accounts without the involvement of broker(s).

The PSX chairperson appreciated the efforts of PMEX in streamlining investors’ funds through DFM which would help build investors’ confidence in trading futures at PMEX.

Talking about the documentation of gold trade, Shah said the commodity was a strategic asset, and all efforts were needed to document its trading. He said PMEX should be defined as the official platform for the trading of gold. “Opening the import of gold and allowing free export of gold would increase the foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan provided that “own resources” was defined correctly in the import policy. The documentation of gold would also increase the government’s tax revenue.