KARACHI
Pakistani rupee inched up against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday, appreciating by three paisas.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that the rupee opened at 278.77 against the dollar in the interbank market and closed at 278.74, appreciating by 0.01 percent.
The local unit gained 30 paisas this week against the greenback. Overall, the rupee has improved by Rs9.57 during the current fiscal year 2023-24. The local unit improved by Rs0.39 in February, Rs2.36 in January and Rs3.31 in December, while it shed Rs3.69 against the US dollar in November after gaining Rs6.26 (+2.23%) against the greenback in the month of October.
Similarly, the local unit gained traction against the greenback in the open market. The rupee was quoted at 278.61 for buying and 281.26 for selling, according to data provided by different exchange companies.
The rupee surged against the greenback by Re1 in February, Rs2 in January and Rs3.50 in December.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan kick-started talks on Thursday during the second and last review of Pakistan’s ongoing bailout programme. The finance ministry said in a statement that the IMF and Islamabad discussed Pakistan’s overall macro-economic indicators, efforts on fiscal consolidation, structural reforms, energy sector viability and state-owned entity governance. Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has expressed the government’s commitment towards working with the IMF on the reforms agenda for economic growth and stability.
In a related development, the country’s foreign currency reserves increased 0.22 percent week-on-week to $7.91 billion, according to the weekly update released by the SBP. The central bank’s foreign currency reserves reached $7,912.9 million in the week ended on March 8, 2024, up $17.2 million compared to the previous week’s tally of $7,895.7 million. Of the total, the foreign currency reserves held by commercial banks rose to $5,238.4 million compared to $5,124.3 million a week ago. Accordingly, the country’s total liquid reserves came in at $13,151.3 million in the week under review, up from $13,020 million in the prior week.
