The Pakistani rupee (PKR) dropped further against the US Dollar and posted losses during intraday trade today.
The Pakistani rupee was all red during the early hours of intraday trade today with the interbank rate losing over Rs. 2 to reach 283 by 11 AM. By 11:25 AM, it cooled off to 282 and stayed at this level.
At close, the rupee depreciated by 0.24 percent and suspended movement at 282.29 after losing 68 paisas against the greenback.
The rupee reported losses for the second consecutive day today despite news that Pakistan has persuaded the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce its external additional loan requirement to $6 billion.
Last week, the IMF and Pakistan reached an agreement on the issue of the external financing gap. “Both sides have now agreed to reduce the IMF’s earlier estimates of a $7 billion external financing gap to $6 billion,” according to a source. Understandably, the reduction in financing needs of $1 billion implies a reduction in the new loan requirement of the same amount.
Despite shaving $1 billion off the financing gap, Pakistan’s problems have not been resolved yet, and the prevalent PKR drop
The rupee is down over Rs. 50 since its record-breaking single-day drop of Rs. 25 in the last week of January and has since then played in mostly red due to immense economic pressure. As per exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost over 80 paisas today, noting a decline from Friday’s gains to 280 against the USD.
Money changers say markets are still down as political heat and fiscal bottlenecks continue to put pressure on the exchange rate. In terms of other metrics, they said uncertainty over the country’s debt obligations was putting a lot of pressure on the rupee-dollar trade.
The PKR was bearish against all of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost 18 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), 16 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), Rs. 1.65 against the Australian Dollar (AUD), Rs. 1.19 against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), and Rs. 1.35 against the Euro (EUR).
Moreover, it lost Rs. 2.97 against the Pound Sterling (GBP) in today’s interbank currency market.
