The Pakistani rupee maintained its upward trajectory against the US dollar in the open market on Thursday, a gain that comes in tandem with the local currency’s improvement in the inter-bank.

Currency dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was quoted at 278 for selling and 275 for buying purposes for customers.

At the end of trading on Thursday, the currency closed at the same rates, according to data provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP).

Meanwhile, the rupee settled at 278.58 level against the greenback in the inter-bank market.

The gap between rates in the inter-bank and open markets is required to be less than 1.25% under one of the structural benchmarks set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The ongoing appreciation comes after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) ramped up efforts to clip the wings of the high-flying dollar and announced a list of “structural reforms” last month, targeting the Exchange Companies (ECs).

Apart from central bank measures, the caretaker setup also announced taking administrative steps to tighten the screws around smuggling and hoarding of currency and as a result, countrywide raids were reported with dozens of illegal currency exchanges barred from running operations and foreign currency worth millions confiscated.

On Wednesday, the SBP suspended the authorisation of five Exchange Companies of ‘B’ Category namely: M/s International Exchange Company –B (Pvt) Limited, M/s World Wide Exchange Company –B (Pvt) Limited, M/s World Exchange Company –B (Pvt) Limited, M/s Universal Exchange Company –B (Pvt) Limited and M/s United Exchange Company –B (Pvt) Limited, for non-compliance of rules and regulations.

According to the SBP, the authorisation of these five exchange companies of ‘B’ Category has been suspended with immediate effect till further orders due to serious violations of the central bank’s regulations and instructions.