KARACHI: Rupee decreased marginally against the US dollar during the previous week as it lost Re0.30 or 0.11% in the inter-bank market.
The local unit closed at 278.42, against 278.12 it had closed the week earlier against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). In a key development, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the SBP reduced the key policy rate by 200 basis points to take it down to 13%. That was the fifth successive cut since June 2024 when the rate had stood at 22%.
Pakistan’s current account posted a surplus of $729 million in November 2024 compared to a deficit of $148 million in the same month of the previous year, data released by the central bank showed.
Pakistan’s Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER), a measure of the value of a currency against a weighted average of several foreign currencies, increased further to 102.92 in November 2024, up from 100.78 (revised) in October 2024.
Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP increased by $31 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $12.08 billion as of December 13, the central bank data showed. Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $16.63 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $4.55 billion.
In the open market, the PKR lost 22 paise for buying and 31 paise for selling against USD, closing at 277.50 and 279.38, respectively.
Against Euro, the PKR gained 2.05 rupees for buying and 2.36 rupees for selling, closing at 287.35 and 289.30, respectively.
Against UAE Dirham, the PKR lost 8 paise for buying and 5 paise for selling, closing at 75.53 and 76.05, respectively.
Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR lost 6 paise for buying and 5 paise for selling, closing at 73.80 and 74.30, respectively.
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THE RUPEE
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Weekly inter-bank market rates for dollar
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Bid Close Rs. 278.42
Offer Close Rs. 278.62
Bid Open Rs. 278.12
Offer Open Rs. 278.32
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Weekly open-market rates for dollar
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Bid Close Rs. 277.50
Offer Close Rs. 279.38
Bid Open Rs. 277.28
Offer Open Rs. 279.07
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Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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