KARACHI
Pakistani rupee improved by 11 paisas (+0.04 percent) against the US dollar in the inter-bank market for the seventh straight session on Wednesday while it gained 25 paisas in the open market.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a tweet that the rupee opened at 283.01 against the dollar in the interbank market and closed at 282.90. The local unit improved by 61 paisas against the greenback last week while it has gained Rs3.77 during the previous five weeks.
Similarly, the rupee improved by Rs5.39 during the current fiscal year 2023-24. However, the rupee depreciated by Rs52.06 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 after remaining unchanged in the previous four sessions. The rupee was quoted at 281.25 for buying and 284.25 for selling as compared to 281.50 for buying and 284.50 for selling in the previous sessions, according to data provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP). The rupee gained 50 paisas against the greenback last week.
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board will meet on January 11 to consider the final approval to disburse the next $700 million tranche from its current loan programme with Pakistan. Pakistan has been facing an acute balance of payment crisis, along with historically high inflation and an unprecedented currency devaluation in the past couple of years.
In a related development, the country’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $100 million last week. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday that total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the country stood at $ 12.206 billion as of December 8, 2023 compared to $ 12.107 billion on December 1, 2023.
