12th consecutive fall: rupee records marginal loss against US dollar

Pakistan’s rupee registered a marginal loss against the US dollar for the 12th successive session, depreciating 0.07% in the inter-bank market on Thursday.

As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee declined by Re0.17 to close at 227.12.

On Wednesday, the rupee depreciated against the US dollar for the eleventh successive session to settle at 226.95 after a decline of Re0.01.

In a key development, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar stated on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia “is expected to beef up its deposits in Pakistan in a few days”.

In a press conference, he said that a rollover “is not an unusual thing”.

“All nations of the world opt for borrowing new money to pay old liabilities or they opt for rollover. We are opting for rolling over of deposits,” said Dar.

He stated that Pakistan’s reserves were “pure till 2018 and no other country had deposits in Pakistan” at that time.

Dar said the country’s foreign exchange reserves are projected to be in a much better shape by June 30, 2023. He said that there is no issue in the 9th review and the present government is committed to completing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

Globally, the dollar struggled to advance on Thursday even though Federal Reserve policymakers reiterated their commitment last month to fighting inflation.

Minutes of the Fed’s December policy meeting released overnight showed that while officials agreed that the central bank should slow the pace of its aggressive interest rate increases, they remained focused on curbing inflation, and were worried about any “misperception” in financial markets that their commitment was flagging.

Against a basket of currencies, the US dollar index fell 0.14% to 104.06, after slipping 0.5% on Wednesday.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rebounded on Thursday after posting the biggest two-day loss for the start of a year in three decades with the shutdown of a US fuel pipeline providing support, though economic concerns capped gains.

Inter-bank market rates for dollar on Thursday

BID Rs 227.10

OFFER Rs 228.10

Open-market movement

In the open market, the PKR remained unchanged for both buying and selling against USD, closing at 233.75 and 236, respectively.

Against Euro, the PKR lost 1.50 rupees for both buying and selling, closing at 265.50 and 267.50 respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, the PKR remained unchanged for buying while losing 10 paisas for selling, closing at 68.70 and 69.30, respectively.

Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR lost 50 paisas for both buying and selling, closing at 66.70 and 67.20, respectively.

Open-market rates for dollar on Thursday

BID Rs 233.75

OFFER Rs 236