Rupee at record low at 87.47 against dollar

KARACHI: Rupee hit a record low on Monday, hit by increased payments for imports and gloomy sentiment surrounding the country's economy, with dealers expecting the currency to weaken further in coming days.

It was the fourth trading day of falls running for the local currency , closing at 87.40/45 to the dollar compared with 87.22/27 last Tuesday, the last day of trading before the Eid public holiday.

"The rupee was traded at 87.47 to the dollar and there are several payments due tomorrow," said a dealer at a foreign bank.

Stalled payments from a bailout programme by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are also hammering the rupee.

The IMF has criticized the Pakistan government for its patchy implementation of fiscal reforms and has held back the sixth tranche of an $11 billion bailout programme for more than a year.

IMF and Pakistan officials were due to meet in July, but the meeting was delayed and no new date announced. The IMF programme is also scheduled to end by September 30.

Some support, however, could come from higher remittances from overseas Pakistanis. According to official data, remittances rose 38.57 percent to $1.1 billion in the first month of 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $791.18 million in the same period last year.

Copyright Reuters, 2011