KARACHI: Pakistani rupee shed 26 paisas (-0.15 percent) against the US dollar on Tuesday, ending the two-day winning streak.
The State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement that the dollar opened at Rs175.92 in the interbank market and closed at Rs176.18. The rupee witnessed a trading range of 36 paisas during the session, showing the intraday high bid of 176.26 and low offer of 175.90. Within the open market, the rupee was traded at 177/178 per dollar.
Overall Pakistan rupee shed 11 paisas against the US dollar during the two sessions of this week, while it has appreciated by 33 paisas during the current year 2022. The local unit has depreciated by Rs18.75 during the ongoing fiscal year 2021-22.
The experts were of the view that trade and current account deficits due to rising import bill and depletion in the foreign exchange reserves are major threats to the rupee’s stability. The trade deficit ballooned by 106 percent to $25.48 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year 2021-22 due to a massive surge in imports, which touched $40.50 billion. Likewise, foreign exchange reserves also fell to $23.90 billion from $24.02 billion last week.
However, the rupee is likely to remain stable against the dollar amid positive sentiment that the government is taking serious steps for the revival of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF). President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday last signed the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021, generally known as the mini-budget, thus fulfilling one of the key conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Again, the approval of the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 from the National Assembly on Thursday last was another step to pave the way for the revival of the IMF programme. If the bill is also passed from the Senate, it will ensure that Pakistan’s sixth review of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility gets cleared by the IMF’s executive board.
