KARACHI
Pakistani rupee continued its losing streak against the US dollar in the inter-bank market for the seventh straight session and depreciated by 52 more paisas (-0.18 percent) on Tuesday.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a tweet that the rupee opened at 280.95 against the dollar in the interbank market and closed at 281.42. The rupee has appreciated by Rs6.52 during the current fiscal year 2023-24, while it has depreciated by Rs50.05 in the current year. The rupee gained Rs6.26 (+2.23 percent) against the greenback in the month of October.
Similarly, the Pakistani rupee depreciated by 50 paisas against the greenback in the open market. The rupee was quoted in the range of 280-283 a dollar as compared to 279.50-282.50 in the previous session. The rupee has recovered by Rs49 against the dollar in the last 40 sessions in the open market.
The recent fluctuation comes after a remarkable 28-day winning streak for the Pakistani currency, which concluded on October 17, 2023. The rupee had fallen to a record low of Rs307.09 a dollar on September 5. But following a crackdown by agencies on illegal foreign exchange trading and structural reforms introduced by the central bank, the rupee had recovered every day in the interbank market since then.
On the other hand, remittance inflows are likely to grow with a decent growth from Gulf countries as the local currency marked a significant comeback against the US dollar in the interbank and open markets in the last few weeks. Moreover, the caretaker government announced an incentive scheme of Rs80 billion for encouraging overseas Pakistanis to send remittances to their relatives in their homeland without any charges.
Meanwhile, the country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $220 million on a weekly basis, with the total now standing at $7.494.2 billion. According to data released by the central bank on Thursday last, its foreign currency reserves decreased by $220 million to $7,494.2 million in the week ending on October 20, compared to the previous week’s total of $7,714.0 million. The SBP in its report attributed the reason for this substantial decrease to debt repayments. The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including the reserves held by commercial banks, stood at $12,655.6 million. Commercial banks held reserves of $5,161.4 million.
