KARACHI
Pakistani rupee extended gains against the US dollar in the inter-bank market for the ninth consecutive session on Monday and appreciated by 12 paisas.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a tweet that the rupee opened at 280.36 against the dollar in the interbank market and closed at 280.24, gaining 12 paisas (+0.04percent) on a day-on-day basis. This has been the highest level of the local unit against the greenback since October 26, 2023.
Overall, the local unit improved by Rs1.04 against the greenback last week while it has gained Rs6.67 during the previous nine weeks. Similarly, the rupee improved by Rs8.05 during the current fiscal year 2023-24 and Rs1.62 in the current year.
The rupee gained Rs3.31 against the US dollar in December, while it 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.
On the other hand, the local unit inched up against the greenback in the open market. The rupee was quoted at 280.50 for buying and 281.50 for selling, according to data provided by different exchange companies. The rupee gained Rs3.50 against the greenback in December while it surged by 50 paisas against the greenback last week.
Meanwhile, inflow through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) clocked in at $160 million in December, up by 17 percent as compared to $137 million in November 2023, the SBP said on Monday. Out of the total amount, $7 million have so far been repatriated, while funds to the tune of $120 million have been utilised locally. Whereas, the net repatriable liability stands at $34 million. Cumulative inflows crossed $7.2 billion by December-end.
In another related development, the country’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves increased by $36 million during the last week due to a surge in commercial banks’ reserves. The total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the country stood at $13.257 billion as of January 5, 2024 compared to $13.221 billion as of December 29, 2023.
The break-up of the foreign reserves position shows that SBP’s reserves decreased by $66 million to $8.155 billion due to debt repayments. However, net foreign reserves held by commercial banks rose by $102 million to $5.102 billion from $4.999 billion.
