The Pakistani rupee strengthened further against the US dollar to settle at 304.94 in the inter-bank market on Thursday.

At close, the rupee was up Rs2.04 or 0.67%, as per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

On Wednesday, the rupee witnessed a slight recovery against the US dollar to settle at 306.98, an appreciation of 0.04%, in the inter-bank market.

In a key development, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in a bid to strengthen controls amid the massive fall in rupee’s value in the open market, decided to introduce structural reforms in the Exchange Companies’ (ECs) sector on Wednesday.

“As part of these reforms, leading banks actively engaged in foreign exchange business will establish wholly-owned Exchange Companies (EC) to cater to the legitimate foreign exchange needs of general public,” said the SBP in a statement.

Globally, a buoyant US dollar pushed the yen to a 10-month trough on Thursday and kept the euro and sterling pinned near three-month lows, as investors placed their faith in a still-resilient US economy even amid a dour global growth outlook.

The greenback scaled a fresh top of 147.865 yen in early Asia trade, its highest since last November.

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar was last 0.05% higher at 104.91, holding on to some of its gains from the previous session after scaling a six-month peak on news that the US services sector unexpectedly gained steam in August.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, eased on Thursday as worries over demand due to a seasonal slowdown during winter and an uncertain economic outlook for China outweighed expectations of tighter supplies from extended production cuts in Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Inter-bank market rates for dollar on Thursday

BID                            Rs 304.90

OFFER                      Rs 305.10

Open-market movement

In the open market, the PKR gained 5.00 rupees for both buying and selling against USD, closing at 304.00 and 307.00, respectively.

Against Euro, the PKR gained 8.50 rupees for buying and 8.00 rupees for selling, closing at 323.50 and 327.00, respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, the PKR gained 50 paisa for both buying and selling, closing at 85.50 and 86.30, respectively.

Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR gained 3.00 rupees for both buying and selling, closing at 79.50 and 80.30, respectively.

Open-market rates for dollar on Thursday

BID                            Rs 304.00

OFFER                      Rs 307.00