The rupee continued to depreciate steeply in the interbank market on Friday, trading at Rs266.6 per dollar at 10:32am, down Rs11.17 or 4.58 per cent from yesterday\u2019s close, according to data shared by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (Ecap).<\/p>\n
The local currency\u2019s value declined Rs24.54 to a record low of Rs255.43 in the interbank yesterday, the largest single-day depreciation in both absolute and percentage terms since the new exchange rate system was introduced in 1999.<\/p>\n
Separately, the PKR was changing hands at Rs265 per dollar in the open market at the same time. This equates to a depreciation of Rs3, or 1.15pc, over yesterday\u2019s rate of Rs262.<\/p>\n
Alpha Beta Core CEO Khurram Schehzad said a \u201csubstantial\u201d amount of remittances started flowing into the country through formal channels today.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemittances are expected to cross $2.5 billion per month again to gradually reach close to $3bn in the coming months, while exports proceeds are also expected to improve by at least $500 million in the next few months.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese potentially improved inflows due to currency adjustment (and rerouting of flows from hawala market) should be able to support the country\u2019s forex reserves and therefore stabilise currency parity, and make way for releasing imports (already stuck at ports), retiring of LCs (letters of credit) and so on,\u201d he commented.<\/p>\n
Schehzad said that if the government had removed the cap four months ago, the country would not have had to pay a huge inflation cost in the coming months, lose $6bn on various counts, see a decline in credibility and create a huge grey market.<\/p>\n
\u201cHope the policymakers now continue with other required adjustments and build a policy action and reform strategy to stabilise the economy and shield the poor with targeted relief,\u201d the Alpha Beta Core CEO added.<\/p>\n
Director of financial data and analytics portal Mettis Global, Saad bin Naseer, also said that inflows, including export proceeds and remittances, that had stopped flowing through formal channels for some time, were seen again on Friday after the adjustment.<\/p>\n
\u201cA substantial amount has been received. The dollar is expected to stabilise,\u201d he said, adding that the market was expected to get a new direction once money was received from the International Monetary Fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe economy has slowed down so there will be a reduced demand [for dollars]. The pressure will only be due to external loan repayments,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ecap General Secretary Zafar Paracha said that while the central bank had assured that exchange companies would be supplied dollars, they were yet to receive them.<\/p>\n
If supply was established and the government\u2019s \u201ccomplex\u201d policies were corrected, the rupee\u2019s devaluation may be stopped, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government\u2019s condition for importers to arrange their own dollars is tantamount to asking them to buy illegally through the grey market because they cannot buy from ECs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are ready to share the government\u2019s burden if they correct their policies and do not become facilitators and promoters of the grey market,\u201d Paracha said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The rupee continued to depreciate steeply in the interbank market on Friday, trading at Rs266.6 per dollar at 10:32am, down Rs11.17 or 4.58 per cent from yesterday\u2019s close, according to data shared by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (Ecap). The local currency\u2019s value declined Rs24.54 to a record low of Rs255.43 in the interbank […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-310061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-national"],"yoast_head":"\n