My family has been making footballs and cricket bats in Sialkot for thirty years. We export to Europe and the UK. Every month, we send invoices in dollars. When the buyer pays, we receive dollars into our bank. Then we need to convert those dollars to rupees. That is where the US dollar price in Pakistan becomes the most important number in my business. Let me explain how we manage our telegraphic transfers to protect our profit.

How the Dollar Rate Affects My Business

Let us say a buyer in Germany owes me ten thousand dollars. If the US dollar price in Pakistan is two hundred eighty rupees, I receive two million eight hundred thousand rupees. If the dollar price drops to two hundred sixty rupees, I receive only two million six hundred thousand rupees. That is a loss of two hundred thousand rupees on a single invoice. For a small business like mine, that is a disaster.

I cannot control the dollar rate. But I can control when I convert my dollars to rupees. That is where telegraphic transfer comes in.

What I Learned About Telegraphic Transfer

When a buyer sends me dollars, the money arrives in our bank's foreign currency account. It stays as dollars. I do not have to convert it to rupees immediately. I can wait. If I think the US dollar price in Pakistan will go up tomorrow, I wait. If I think it will go down, I convert immediately.

The conversion happens through something called telegraphic transfer. I tell my bank to convert a certain amount of dollars to rupees at the current rate. The bank does it electronically. The rupees appear in my local account within hours.

The trick is knowing when to do the telegraphic transfer. I watch the US dollar price in Pakistan every morning. I have a small notebook where I write the rate every day. Over time, I have learned the patterns.

How I Protect My Business

I do not keep all my dollars in the bank for too long. That is risky. The rate could drop suddenly. But I also do not convert everything immediately. I keep a balance. I convert enough to pay my workers and buy raw materials. The rest I leave in dollars for a short time, hoping for a better rate.

I also use multiple banks. Different banks offer different rates for telegraphic transfer. One bank might give me two hundred eighty five rupees per dollar while another gives two hundred eighty eight rupees. That difference of three rupees on ten thousand dollars is thirty thousand rupees. It adds up.

My advice to other exporters is simple. Learn to watch the US dollar price in Pakistan like you watch the weather. It changes. Plan accordingly. And do not be afraid to ask your bank for a better rate. They can often give a small discount if you are converting large amounts. I have been doing this for thirty years. The dollar rate has gone up and down, but my business has survived because I pay attention.