Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee depreciated against the US dollar in the interbank market on Wednesday, with the local currency trading at Rs265 at 1 pm.
The rupee depreciated by 1.72 per cent from yesterday’s close of Rs261.5 against the US dollar. SECP Secretary-General Zafar Paracha attributed the rupee’s depreciation to the delay in the release of International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package.
“The rupee and the economy are under immense pressure again and the main reason was the delay and the new conditions by the IMF.” Saad bin Naseer, Director of financial data and analytics portal, Mettis Global, shared the same view.
“The market was calm in February 2023, and [the rupee] appreciated 2.7 per cent. There was anticipation that the IMF deal would be in soon. Due to the delay in the IMF agreement and the higher open market rate in Afghanistan, the rupee’s value is decreasing,” he said.
He said that the government should take strict action against those involved in illegally selling and buying dollars and fulfill the International Monetary Fund conditions at the earliest to avoid further panic.
He said that “once the deal is through, you would see the USD fall below the Rs260 level,”
Tresmark’s head of strategy, Komal Mansoor, said several factors were behind the rupee’s depreciation, the important of which was that talks with the IMF had so far not led to a staff-level agreement.
