Rupee falls to 286.19 viz dollar in interbank

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee depreciated by 51 paisas (-0.18 percent) against the US dollar in the interbank market on Monday.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a tweet that the dollar opened at Rs285.68 in the interbank market and closed at Rs286.19. During the current fiscal year 2022-23, Pakistani rupee has lost Rs80.32 against the US dollar in the interbank, while it plummeted by Rs59.76 against the greenback in the current year.
Similarly, in the open market too, the rupee fell around 2 percent against the US dollar and was traded at Rs306 per dollar against Rs302 a session earlier, changing course after appreciating sharply towards the end of last week.
Analysts said there was a shortage of dollars in the open market, attributing it to “hoarders” holding onto the foreign currency in anticipation of further depreciation of the rupee. The people who have bought the currency at up to Rs310 are not selling and they are going for the wait-and-see strategy, they added.
They said that the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) strategy to allow banks to acquire US dollars from the interbank market for the settlement of card-based cross-border transactions with the International Payment System should have brought down the price by around Rs10 to Rs20.
They said that the pressure on the open market will continue to increase as many imports are being conducted through “hawala/hundi” channels where the demand largely outstrips the supply.
Last week, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said it has allowed authorised dealers of foreign exchange to purchase the US dollar from the inter-bank market for settlement of card-based cross-border transactions with international payment schemes such as Visa and MasterCard. The reaction to the development was a lowering of the US dollar rate in the open market the following day, but dealers Business Recorder reached out to then said the foreign currency remained in scant supply, rendering the gain of nearly Rs20 rather meaningless.
After the initial reaction, the market is “now moving to an equilibrium”, according to experts. The market is adjusting the rates as per demand and supply, which shows that there is a shortage of dollars amid high demand due to Hajj season. – TLTP