KARACHI
Pakistani rupee maintained its winning streak against the US dollar for the 13th straight session and seventh consecutive week in the inter-bank market and gained 7 paisas (+0.02 percent) on Friday.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a tweet that the rupee opened at 281.93 against the dollar in the interbank market and closed at 281.86. Overall, the local unit improved by 67 paisas against the greenback this week while it has gained Rs5.17 during the previous seven weeks.
Similarly, the rupee improved Rs6.43 during the current fiscal year 2023-24. However, the rupee depreciated by Rs51.02 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 to become the top performer in the world.
On the other hand, the local unit remained unchanged against the greenback in the open market. The rupee was quoted at 280.50 for buying and 283.50 for selling as compared to the same rates in the previous session, 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 this week.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP witnessed a significant increase of $852 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $7.75 billion as of December 22, data released on Thursday showed. Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $12.85 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.1 billion. The SBP attributed the surge in the reserves to official government inflows.
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.
The rupee has been advancing against the dollar during the previous seven 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.
