PKR strengthens by 25 paisas to 176.24 against USD

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KARACHI
Pakistani rupee snapped a three-day losing streak against the US dollar and strengthened by 25 paisas (+0.14 percent) on Friday.
The State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement that the dollar opened at Rs176.49 in the interbank market and closed at Rs176.24. The rupee witnessed a trading range of 25 paisas during the session, showing the intraday high bid of 176.45 and low offer of 176.20. Within the open market, the rupee was traded at 177.50/178.50 per dollar.
Overall Pakistan rupee shed 17 paisas against the US dollar during this week, while it has appreciated by 27 paisas during the current year 2022. The local unit has depreciated by Rs18.81 during the ongoing fiscal year 2021-22.
The rupee has shown a solid recovery despite the fact that the central bank announced a fall in its reserves by $562 million a day earlier. The experts said that the rupee may recover against the dollar after the revival of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF). They said that the condition of approval of the Finance (Supplementary) Act 2021 – one of the key conditions of the IMF – has been met and the passage of the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 from the parliament will pave the way for the revival of the IMF programme. The IMF board is scheduled to meet on January 28 to take up Pakistan’s case.
Moreover, support provided through inflows from exporters as well as Roshan Digital Account (RDA) and lower import payments on a month-on-month basis in December last also improved market confidence. The workers’ remittances rose to $15.8 billion during the first six months (July-December) of the current fiscal year 2021-22, showing a growth of 11.3 percent on a year-on-year basis, while RDA crossed the $3.16 billion mark. The import bill in December 2021 lowered to $7,597 million from $7,899 million in November, showing a decrease of 3.82 percent on a month-on-month basis.
Moreover, the rupee’s stabilisation is also the result of the apt measures taken by the central bank in recent months to improve the transparency in the foreign exchange market.