KARACHI: The US dollar gained 31 paisas against the Pak-rupee in the interbank market on Monday. The US Dollar closed at Rs158.18 in the interbank today.
“The greenback is in demand in the interbank market owing to rising imports, but the inflows of the dollar are low compared to the demand,“ said a banker of a private bank.
The demand is coming from the importers of the textile sector and others, including the oil sector. The government has opened the import of textile raw material and machinery to boost the country’s exports this year, he added. Earlier the government had capped the import, he added.
According to market analysts, there is a shortage of dollars in the interbank market, but the change rate of the US currency is under control, and the government wanted to keep it on the same level.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data said 181,556 accounts had been opened from 171 countries worldwide, and $1.562 billion has been deposited in these accounts through the end-June 2021.
The data shows an accelerating trend across all these dimensions over the last few months. June 2021 saw the highest monthly amount of deposits ($310 million) and NPC investments ($233 million) since the launch of the Roshan Digital Account.
As of end-June 2021, $1050 million has been invested in NPCs, with $621 million in conventional NPCs and $429 million in Islamic NPCs.
The sources in the Kerb market said that exchange companies are selling $5-$6 million to the interbank market daily, but the demand for this currency in the interbank is high.
Open currency market experts claimed that there is no demand for the dollar in the kerb market, but the dealers are following the interbank market. The dollar is going up, but it is temporarily moving, and the local currency would be stable in the interbank market.
In the open currency market, the dollar stands at Rs158.30 for buying and Rs158.50 for selling.
