KARACHI
Pakistani rupee maintained its winning streak against the US dollar for the 12th straight session in the inter-bank market on Thursday and gained 27 paisas (+0.09 percent).
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a tweet that the rupee opened at 282.20 against the dollar in the interbank market and closed at 281.93. The local unit improved by 73 paisas against the greenback last week while it has gained Rs4.50 during the previous six weeks.
Similarly, the rupee improved by Rs6.36 during the current fiscal year 2023-24. However, the rupee depreciated by Rs51.09 in the current year.
The rupee shed Rs3.69 against the US dollar in November after gaining Rs6.26 (+2.23 percent) against the greenback in the month of October. The currency surged more than 6 percent in September to become the top performer in the world.
On the other hand, the local unit gained 25 paisas against the greenback in the open market.
The rupee was quoted at 280.50 for buying and 283.50 for selling as compared to 280.75 for buying and 283.75 for selling in the previous session, according to data provided by different exchange companies. The rupee gained 50 paisas against the greenback last week.
In a related development, the cumulative borrowing by the federal and provincial governments for budgetary support from the domestic banking system has risen by 200 percent during the current fiscal year 2023-24 so far.
Internationally, the US dollar remained under pressure on Wednesday. The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six rivals, was at 101.54, just shy of the five-month low of 101.42 it touched last week. The index is on course for a 1.9 percent drop in 2023 after two straight years of strong gains on the back of the Fed hiking rates to battle inflation. The recent weakness in the dollar has been a result of the markets anticipating rate cuts from the Fed next year denting the appeal of the greenback.
The rupee has been advancing against the dollar during the previous six weeks since the announcement of a staff-level agreement (SLA) between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the first review of the $3 billion Stand-by Arrangement (SBA). The IMF’s executive board will decide on the release of the next tranche of $700 million to Pakistan on January 11. The market remains confident amid an expected release of funds by the IMF next month.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves decreased by $136 million (-1.9 percent) to reach $6,904.8 million on a week-on-week basis, the SBP reported on Thursday.
