Local currency falls by Rs6.79, the highest day-on-day depreciation after June 26, 2019, when the currency fell by Rs6.80
ISLAMABAD
The US dollar continued its upward march on Tuesday too as it touched the highest ever Rs221 mark with an appreciation of Rs6.80 against the Pakistani rupee during the early morning trade in the interbank market.
In two days, the US dollar gained Rs11.05 against the local currency and so far it gained Rs39.98 since the coalition government assumed power. Earlier on Monday, the US dollar had gained a whopping Rs4.30 increase against the Pakistani rupee to reach Rs215.25 in interbank trading. The greenback had closed at Rs215.20 on Monday with an increase of Rs4.25 in interbank trading. It also merits mention here that the US dollar has appreciated Rs11.05 against the Pakistani rupee in the interbank market during the last two days. The economic experts said that the Pakistani rupee was under pressure due to the current political situation in the country. After reaching a peak of Rs211.93 on June 22, the dollar started declining for a brief period and fell to a low of Rs204.56 on July 4.
Mettis Global Director Saad Bin Naseer said the rupee was seeing a decline due to “panic buying [of the dollar] from banks in the interbank market”. He said that “panic is setting in the financial markets following fears of change in [the] government in Punjab and Centre” after the by-polls on the province’s 20 seats. The by-elections saw the PTI register a thumping victory against the PML-N, which leads the ruling coalition.
He went on to say that the downgrading of Pakistan’s outlook from stable to negative by the Fitch rating agency further increased panic in the market. Moreover, he said, the demand for the dollar among importers had also “spiked” as the future of inflows from the IMF friendly countries, and bilateral sources remained a concern.
