ISLAMABAD: After appreciating by 8 paisa on Friday, the Pakistani rupee witnessed a marginal decline of almost the same amount (8 paisa) against the American dollar on Monday in the inter-bank market to settle at Rs278.20.
Meanwhile, the local currency observed a somewhat similar response in the open market against the greenback and was trading at Rs277.01 for selling and Rs279.55 for buying.
At close, the local unit settled at 278.20, a loss of Re0.08 against the greenback, as per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
During the previous week, the rupee registered a marginal increase as it gained Re0.09 or 0.03% against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, at the international level, the American dollar got some ground after the possibility of no immediate rat cut from the Fed, resulting in a strength to the US currency and market and a slight fall to the gold market.
Meanwhile, in the open market, the local currency went down by 65 paisa against Euro for buying and 71 paisa for selling to settle at Rs296.64 and Rs299.46, respectively.
The UAE Dirham went up by 4 paise for buying and 6 paise for selling to settle at 75.15 and 75.89, respectively, whereas the Saudi Riyal, appreciated by 8 paise for buying and 9 paise for selling to close at Rs73.50 and Rs74.19, respectively.
Pakistani Rupee Against US Dollar
Recently the local currency registered both appreciation and depreciation, against the American dollar with recent continued improvement. From September, till the middle of October 2023, the local unit registered appreciation for a record 28 consecutive sessions against the US dollar, followed by a continues decline for 17th consecutive sessions from October till the middle of November 2023.
However at the end of December 2023, and then in January 2024, the Pakistani Rupee mostly registered appreciation against the greenback amid the inflow from the IMF followed by a $2b rollover each from the UAE (January) and China (February). As a result, the local currency appreciated by over Rs 7 in the interbank during the last two to three months.
In another recent development, Pakistan received $1.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the final tranche of the $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), on April 30. Pakistan is now flexing muscles to obtain a longer program from the IMF to further overcome the economic quagmire. However, the coming expected program might be coupled with inflation and price hikes amid tough conditions from the lending body in the shape of further taxation.
