KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee continued to post marginal gains against the US dollar, appreciating 0.03 percent or Re0.09 in the inter-bank market during the previous week.
The local unit closed at 279.31, against 279.40 it had closed the week earlier against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The SBP decided to keep its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 10.5 percent in its second Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of 2026.
Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had made “considerable progress” in discussions on the third review of the country’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, IMF mission chief Iva Petrova said, adding talks would continue in the coming days to further assess the impact of recent global developments on the economy.
The inflow of overseas workers’ remittances into Pakistan stood at USD3.29 billion in February 2026.
Remittances increased by 5.2 percent year-on-year (YoY), compared to USD3.12 billion recorded in the same month last year. Monthly remittances were down 5 percent from USD3.46 billion in January.
Foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP increased by USD41 million to USD16.34 billion during the week ended March 6.
The country’s total liquid foreign reserves stood at USD21.60 billion.
Open-market rates
In the open market, the PKR gained 17 paise for buying and 9 paise for selling against USD, closing at 279.53 and 280.36, respectively.
Against Euro, the PKR gained 3.96 rupees for buying and 3.59 rupees for selling, closing at 320.69 and 324.34, respectively.
Against UAE Dirham, the PKR gained 20 paise for buying and 19 paise for selling, closing at 75.79 and 76.74, respectively.
Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR gained 26 paise for buying and 29 paise for selling, closing at 73.92 and 74.83, 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. 279.31
Offer Close Rs. 279.51
Bid Open Rs. 279.47
Offer Open Rs. 279.67
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Weekly open-market rates for dollar
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Bid Close Rs. 279.53
Offer Close Rs. 280.36
Bid Open Rs. 280.03
Offer Open Rs. 280.52
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Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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