ISLAMABAD
\nThe rupee lost Rs1.1 against the dollar in interbank trade on Friday with the greenback closing at 210.95.
\nAccording to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee depreciated 0.55 per cent compared to yesterday\u2019s close of Rs209.8.
\nMettis Global Director Saad Bin Naseer noted that the rupee had appreciated slightly when the market opened on Friday but came under pressure because of an increase in the dollar\u2019s demand after banks started clearing pending payments.
\nThe pressure has continued since then, he said, and cited depleting reserves and \u201cinsignificant\u201d remittances and export payments.
\nWhile there is some confidence because of the IMF deal, the situation would not improve until the country\u2019s reserves were stable, he added.
\nNaseer pointed out that the dollar was on an upward trend in the global market as well.
\nMeanwhile, Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan General Secretary Zafar Paracha termed the dollar\u2019s rise as \u201cunexpected\u201d.
\n\u201cWe (currency dealers) do not understand the reason for the (rupee\u2019s) decline because we were expecting it to rise by Rs2-3 since the IMF staff agreement has been done.\u201d
\nHowever, Paracha attributed the rupee\u2019s fall to \u201cspeculation by banks\u201d and investors being \u201cdisheartened\u201d by the instability in the interbank market.
\n\u201cThere should be stability. The government does not seem to be concerned. No one is there to intervene,\u201d he said.
\nHe opined that the banks\u2019 roles were \u201cvery negative\u201d because they \u201cdecreased the rate when exporters came to sell dollars and hiked them when importers came to buy\u201d.
\nThe rupee had made modest gains against the dollar in the interbank on Thursday after the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a staff level agreement
\nAfter reaching a peak of Rs211.93 on June 22, the dollar started declining for a brief period and fell to a low of Rs204.56 on July 4.
\nHowever, the strength gained by the rupee after $2.3 billion Chinese inflows evaporated within a couple of weeks, as the dollar snapped the rupee\u2019s rising streak and gained Rs2.38 in the interbank market on July 5, the first appreciation in the new fiscal year. Since then, the greenback has continued to rise with a slight reversal of the trend on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The rupee lost Rs1.1 against the dollar in interbank trade on Friday with the greenback closing at 210.95. According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee depreciated 0.55 per cent compared to yesterday\u2019s close of Rs209.8. Mettis Global Director Saad Bin Naseer noted that the rupee had appreciated slightly when the market […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-271525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n