The Pakistani rupee (PKR) has been pushed further down owing to the prevailing uncertainty as the currency closed the trade at PKR 177.61, shedding 18 paisa against the greenback.
The rupee traded in a range of 70 paisa, witnessing an intraday high bid of 178.15 and an intraday low offer of 177.45.
According to economists, there has been mounting pressure on the local unit owing to the rising import bill which needs to be curtailed immediately as the depleting forex reserves will hardly cover the bill for around three months if it continues to report around the same figures.
As per reports, Zafar Paracha said, “Given the ongoing macro-economic condition, PKR should not have crossed 165 per USD.”
He accredited the fall of PKR to the conditions placed by IMF. He added, that the government should clarify the situation and take market participants in confidence in order to counter the uncertainty as the current situation is only benefitting the speculators.
According to the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP), PKR lost 70 paisa for buying and 80 paisa for selling over the day closed at 179 and 180.30 respectively in the open market.
The local currency devalued by 11.30% or PKR 20.06 during the fiscal year-to-date against the USD. Similarly, the rupee has weakened by 10.01% or PKR 17.77 in CY21, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a decline of 1.06%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.
On the other hand, the domestic currency gained 40 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day’s closing quote stood at PKR 234.53 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 234.92 per GBP.
Furthermore, PKR depreciated by 85 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 201.08 at the interbank.
On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 8.75/9.00 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 9.15/9.25 percent.
