The Pakistani rupee reported heavy losses against the US Dollar during intraday trade today after opening trade at 279.75.
The Pakistani rupee was all red during the afternoon with the interbank rate reversing early-day gains to fall as low as 288 before rebounding back marginally. Open market rates across multiple currency counters managed between 309-315 while traders expect the exchange rate to fall further amid the ongoing Hajj season.
The informal exchange rate was trading above 310 to as high as 315 due to daily gains in informal imports while foreign currency shortages due to Hajj season offset profit-taking at currency counters.
At close, the PKR depreciated by 0.21 percent and closed at 287.15 after losing 59 paisas today.
Markets were all red despite early-day gains which saw the PKR lose roughly Rs. 8 against the USD after opening at the 279 level.
Pakistan is also facing severe inflationary pressure, with headline inflation hovering at default-like levels. While the term triggers
Traders today said political uncertainty and little to no control over informal trade at borders was allowing profit seekers to earn big and avoid paying taxes. “Traders are looking for a way out of this mess. The PKR is lacking bulls and taking heavy hits due to the prevalent onslaught of economic slowdown. The IMF gossip isn’t helping either,” one of them contended.
The rupee is down nearly Rs. 61 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 108 against the greenback. As per the exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost 59 paisas against the dollar today.
Even in the most optimistic scenario where Pakistan might be able to receive support from bilateral friends (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and China) in the form of both rollovers and fresh funding and also run a balanced current account, the country still faces a shortfall of $5 billion to meet the external debt servicing requirement of $27 billion in FY24, said the report.
The PKR was red against most of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It held out against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), gained 27 paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP), but lost 47 paisas against the Euro (EUR).
Moreover, it lost 31 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), 15 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), and 16 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED) in today’s interbank currency market.
