KARACHI: Pakistani rupee lowered against the US dollar in the inter-bank market for the sixth straight session and depreciated by 38 paisas (-0.14 percent) on Monday.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a tweet that the rupee opened at 280.57 against the dollar in the interbank market and closed at 280.95. The rupee has appreciated by Rs7.04 during the current fiscal year 2023-24, while it has depreciated by Rs49.53 in the current year.
Similarly, the Pakistani rupee depreciated by Re1 against the greenback in the open market. The rupee was quoted in the range of 281-284 a dollar as compared to 280-283 in the previous session. The rupee has recovered by Rs48 against the dollar in the last 39 sessions in the open market.
The recent fluctuation comes after a remarkable 28-day winning streak for the Pakistani currency, which concluded on October 17, 2023. The rupee had fallen to a record low of Rs307.09 a dollar on September 5. But following a crackdown by agencies on illegal foreign exchange trading and structural reforms introduced by the central bank, the rupee had recovered every day in the interbank market since then.
On the other hand, remittance inflows are likely to grow with a decent growth from Gulf countries as the local currency marked a significant comeback against the US dollar in the interbank and open markets in the last few weeks. Moreover, the caretaker government announced an incentive scheme of Rs80 billion for encouraging overseas Pakistanis to send remittances to their relatives in their homeland without any charges.
Meanwhile, the country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $220 million on a weekly basis, with the total now standing at $7.494.2 billion. According to data released by the central bank on Thursday last, its foreign currency reserves decreased by $220 million to $7,494.2 million in the week ending on October 20, compared to the previous week’s total of $7,714.0 million. The SBP in its report attributed the reason for this substantial decrease to debt repayments. The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including the reserves held by commercial banks, stood at $12,655.6 million. Commercial banks held reserves of $5,161.4 million. – TLTP