Rupee Surprisingly Holds Out Against US Dollar Despite Bad News from IMF

The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) continued to struggle against the US Dollar (USD) and posted losses in the interbank market today.

It depreciated by 0.04 percent against the USD and closed at Rs. 202.01 after losing eight paisas in the interbank market today. The local unit hit an intra-day low of Rs. 202.37 against the USD during today’s open market session. So far, the dollar has gained Rs. 15.31 against the rupee in two weeks, and Rs. 19.06 since April 11.

The rupee closed in red against the dollar for a record fifteenth day in a row after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday delayed the revival of the stalled $6 billion program for Pakistan. The global lender said that there have been deviations from the policies agreed upon in the last review, partly reflecting the fuel and power subsidies announced by the government in February. The agency emphasized the urgency of concrete policy actions, including in the context of removing fuel and energy subsidies and the FY2023 budget, to achieve “program objectives” before releasing any funds.

On the political side, the “people’s prime minister” and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Thursday (today) gave the incumbent government an ultimatum to announce elections within six days or have the entire nation return to Islamabad once again.

Khan, along with other party leaders, had reached Islamabad on Wednesday after party workers and supporters made their way towards the federal capital, pushing aside containers and police brutality.

In terms of global factors impacting the local state of affairs at home, oil prices maintained their four-day momentum as US refiners drove processing activity to their highest level since the early COVID days. Brent crude stayed above $114, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude formed resistance at $111 per barrel.

The PKR drop continued against most of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost two paisas against both the Saudi Riyal (SAR) and the UAE Dirham (AED), 11 paisas against the Euro (EUR), 19 paisas against the Canadian Dollar CAD), and 84 paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP).

Conversely, it gained 10 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD) in today’s interbank currency market.



Get Alerts

Follow ProPakistani to get latest news and updates.


ProPakistani Community

Join the groups below to get latest news and updates.



>