The Pakistani rupee fell marginally against the US dollar in the open market on Tuesday, as the local currency also weakened in the inter-bank market.

During the day, currency dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was quoted at 281.5 for selling and 278.5 for buying purposes for customers.

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

On Monday, the local unit had closed at 281 for selling and 278 for buying purposes.

Meanwhile, the rupee closed at 279.43 level against the greenback in the inter-bank market on Tuesday, with a decrease of Re0.31.

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 Pakistani authorities are expected to meet the IMF on the upcoming review of the $3-billion loan programme in November.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has asked all ministries and divisions to be ready for first review of the IMF Standby Arrangement (SBA) to ensure successful completion of the review, official sources told Business Recorder.

The rupee recently saw one of the longest appreciation runs against the US dollar, which came after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced a list of “structural reforms” last month, targeting the Exchange Companies (ECs).

On Monday, the SBP, in its bid to facilitate IT exports and improve foreign exchange reserves, increased the permissible retention limit of IT exporters from 35% to 50% of their export proceeds in the Exporters’ Specialised Foreign Currency Accounts (ESFCAs).

In addition, the usage of the balances available in the ESFCAs has been simplified by allowing IT exporters to make their payments from these accounts without any approval from SBP or banks.