Rupee stands unchanged at 176.51 viz dollar

KARACHI: Pakistani rupee remained unchanged against the US dollar at Rs176.51 as all banks remained closed for public dealing on Monday.
The State Bank of Pakistan announced last week that January 3, 2022 will be observed as a bank holiday. Following the announcement, the banks, development finance institutions (DFIs) and microfinance banks (MFBs) remained closed for public dealing. The SBP statement, however,had mentioned that employees of banks, DFIs and MFBs will attend office as usual.
Earlier, the central bank announced that field offices of the SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC) and authorised branches will observe extended banking hours till 8:00pm and 10:00pm on December 30 and 31, respectively, to facilitate collection of government receipts and taxes.
Pakistan rupee snapped five-week losing streak against the US dollar with 0.91 percent (Rs1.62) gain last week, eroding two-third of December losses. Despite State Bank of Pakistan’s intervention and the general bias for a strong rupee, the currency actually weakened 10.44 percent (Rs16.68) against the dollar on a year-on-year basis, falling sharply from 159.83 (December 31, 2020) to 176.51 (December 31, 2021).
On a month-on-month basis, the domestic unit weakened marginally against the American currency by 79 paisas in December, as the dollar closed at 175.72 on November 30, 2021. The rupee set 14 lowest ever levels against the US dollar in December, though the depreciation remained slow in terms of value. All these lowest levels ranged between 176.02 and 178.24 against the greenback. – TLTP