Aamir Latif
May 28, 2019•Update: May 28, 2019
KARACHI, Pakistan
The chief executive officer of the Pakistan Stock Exchange resigned from his post on Tuesday.
Richard Morin's departure comes amid a string of resignations by the country's top managers blamed for performing poorly to contain the slowing economy.
Morin, the first-ever non-Pakistani CEO of the PSX, was appointed in January 2018 by the government of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for a period of three years.
He tendered his resignation in a hurriedly called meeting of the board of directors of the stock exchange in Karachi, the country's commercial capital, an official statement said.
Following the development, the equity market plunged by over 600 points only a few days day after the index spiked over 1100 points in a single day in anticipation of creation of a 20-billion-rupee market-support fund by the government.
Morin cited "personal reasons" for his sudden move, however, local broadcaster Dawn News claimed that he was running a parallel wealth management company, which was seen as breach of employment contract by the directors.
Morin's exit follows the departure of former Finance Minister Asad Umar, governor of the Central Bank, chairman of the Board of Investment, and chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue in the last one month.
Embroiled in an economic crisis, the government of first-time premier Imran Khan is struggling to contain the depreciating value of local currency and deteriorating equity market, which has plunged to nearly 35000 points, compared to around 51000 it had hit during Sharif government in 2017.
The Pakistani rupee, this month, plunged to an all-time low against the U.S. dollar, just days after Islamabad sealed a $6-billion bailout package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to prop up the country’s ailing economy.
The value of the dollar shot up by a historical high of 154 rupees in open and the interbank markets, according to foreign exchange dealers.
The latest devaluation is seen as a result of a key International Monetary Fund (IMF) condition for Pakistan to institute a market-determined exchange rate without any government interference.
Depreciating foreign reserves and a staggering $60 billion import bill that had left the central bank with no power to control the rate played a major role in the drop, said Malik Bostan, chairman of foreign currency dealers association.
Pakistan's current foreign reserves stand at around $16 billion.
Apart from the IMF, Pakistan has recently received loans from longtime strategic partners Saudi Arabia, UAE and China to shore up its depleting foreign reserves.
