US Dollar climbs to Rs 168.70 in interbank market

The Pakistani rupee dived to another record low against the US dollar on Tuesday, selling at Rs168.70 against USD in the interbank market.

As per economist Samiullah Tariq, the demand for the dollar is increasing due to the increase in imports and the market is determining the exchange rate after the exchange policy change, which is the reason for the rise in the value of the dollar.

According to data from the State Bank of Pakistan, foreign exchange reserves stood at $18,952.6 billion on July 10. “Foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan: $12,054.9 million and net foreign reserves held by commercial banks: $6,897.7 million,” revealed SBP data.

On Monday, at the close of trading on the interbank exchange market, the US dollar rose 96 paise to Rs 168.30, as per SBP data. The effects of the interbank exchange market have also been felt in the open market and in the open market the dollar has gone up by Rs20 paisa to Rs168.80.

Meanwhile, gold on Monday touched another historic high of Rs11,250 per tola, up by Rs1600 in a single day trading on the local market, traders said. The yellow metal was selling for Rs95379 per 10 grams, up by Rs1371 on the local market, and was quoted for Rs1813 an ounce, up by $7 internationally.

It may be recalled that in February 2019, the price of gold per tola was Rs68,500. Due to the coronavirus pandemic lead to economic uncertainty, the value of gold has increased rapidly.