A day after plummeting to an all-time low, the Pakistan rupee on Friday recovered against the US dollar, with analysts attributing it to expectations that the government would reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/p>\n
The local currency was changing hands at Rs275 per dollar in the interbank market at 11am, an appreciation of Rs10.9 from yesterday\u2019s close of Rs285.09, data shared by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (Ecap) showed.<\/p>\n
Saad Bin Naseer, director of financial data and analytics portal Mettis Global, told Dawn.com that after the rupee\u2019s fall yesterday, a sense of panic prevailed in the market and people thought that the IMF programme won\u2019t be completed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody was ready to sell dollars. In the black market, the greenback was being sold at Rs290-295,\u201d he said. \u201cEven banks were quoting the rates against the payments.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Naseer continued, the announcement of the monetary policy and the 300 basis point increase in interest rates indicated that the government was serious about the IMF programme.<\/p>\n
He hoped that the agreement with the global lender will be signed within this week. \u201cOnce that happens, you will see that the dollar, which is overvalued right now, will come down to Rs260 or below,\u201d Naseer added.<\/p>\n
Zafar Paracha, secretary general of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (Ecap), explained to Dawn.com that the rupee\u2019s recovery was expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of the conditions put forward by the IMF to trade dollar at the current Afghan trade rate,\u201d he said. \u201cThe grey market cannot be openly named but it was formed because of the government\u2019s policies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paracha said that the government imposed restrictions on foreign exchange, and as a result, the trade shifted to the grey market.<\/p>\n
He also stated that market players wanted to invest money in Pakistan\u2019s T-bills at 20 to 22 per cent and they played a \u201cmajor role\u201d in hyping the dollar rate.<\/p>\n
Paracha further said that market players had turned the dollar and rupee into a \u201cping pong\u201d, emphasising that this wasn\u2019t acceptable anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
He also said that the government needed to rectify its policies as far as smuggling across the borders was concerned.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Alpha Beta Core CEO Khurram Schehzad noted that the volatility in the rupee\u2019s rate, more than anything else, created uncertainty and panic in the minds of lenders, investors, importers and exporters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A day after plummeting to an all-time low, the Pakistan rupee on Friday recovered against the US dollar, with analysts attributing it to expectations that the government would reach an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The local currency was changing hands at Rs275 per dollar in the interbank market at 11am, an appreciation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[181,6490,3232],"class_list":{"0":"post-317162","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-dollar","9":"tag-pkr","10":"tag-usd"},"yoast_head":"\n