KARACHI: The rupee registered a 0.5% gain against the US dollar on a weekly basis as the government’s move to start removing energy subsidies gave the currency market hope of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme-revival.
The Pakistani currency appreciated in four out of the five sessions during the previous week with the only decrease coming on Friday after Moody’s downgraded the outlook on Pakistan from stable to negative a day earlier. While it did maintain a B3 local and foreign currency issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings, Moody’s warned that Pakistan’s current account deficit will remain under significant pressure, on the back of elevated global commodity prices through 2022 and 2023.
The current account deficit, largely due to a mounting import bill, is key for the rupee’s strength that has depreciated massively in the last 12 months.
With oil prices continuing to remain elevated, the rupee is likely to be under pressure. However, experts believe the IMF programme-revival is key to take some pressure off the currency market.
Rupee's winning streak against US dollar comes to an end amid negative economic developments
Open-market rates
In the open market, the PKR gained2 rupees for buying and 2.50 rupees for selling against USD, closing at 197 and 198.50, respectively.
Against Euro, the PKR gained 3 rupees for bothbuying and selling, closing at 210 and 212, respectively.
Against UAE Dirham, the PKR gained 50 paisas for both buying andselling, closing at 53.70 and 54.20, respectively.
Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR gained 40 paisas for buying and 50 paisas for selling closing, at 52.10 and 52.50, respectively.
========================================
THE RUPEE
========================================
Weekly Interbank market rates for dollar
========================================
Bid Close Rs. 197.80
Offer Close Rs. 198.00
Bid Open Rs. 199.20
Offer Open Rs. 199.40
========================================
Weekly Open market rates for dollar
========================================
Bid Close Rs. 197.00
Offer Close Rs. 198.50
Bid Open Rs. 199.00
Offer Open Rs. 201.00
========================================
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.