The Pakistani rupee fell once again against the US Dollar during intraday trade today after opening trade at 285.8.
The Pakistani rupee was bullish during the afternoon with the interbank rate rising as high as 281.7 before falling again. Open market rates across multiple currency counters stayed on the 310-320 level.
The informal exchange rate was still trading above 310 to as high as 323 due to the prevalent crowding at informal exchange channels piling the pressure. Today’s cash rate per dollar in Hundi averaged 316.
At close, the PKR depreciated by 0.04 percent and closed at 285.47 after losing 12 paisas today.
The Rupee was red today despite early-day gains which saw the PKR gain roughly Rs. 4 against the USD after opening at the 285 level.
Traders expect further drops starting tomorrow, the first day of budget month. “State marketing of financial reforms has failed. Market trends show bears ruling the exchange rate in June, whose impact would spill over into the new fiscal year. Lenders are playing hard-to-get while decision-makers here are out of fresh tricks to woo trends. We can expect to see sporadic positives in the PKR/USD rate from time to time but the reversals would be bigger,” one of them remarked.
The Government of Pakistan has shared budget proposals for the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but has continued its war of words with its bailer. Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha has slammed the IMF for interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs, arguing that the lender’s mission does not include getting involved with the country’s domestic matters.
“The IMF Mission Chief’s statement is extraordinary. Pakistan is acting according to the law,” said the minister while talking to media persons here on Wednesday. She added, “If an agreement with the IMF is not achieved, the Ministry of Finance will not close its eyes; there is always a Plan B; our priority is the IMF program”.
The government is looking to resolve pending budgetary issues with the IMF but experts suggest the talks end without positives.
The rupee is down nearly Rs. 59 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 107 against the greenback. As per the exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost 12 paisas against the dollar today.
The PKR was bearish against some of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost two paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), two paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP), and three paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED).
Conversely, it gained 54 paisas against the Euro (EUR), 83 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), and Rs. 1.49 against the Australian Dollar (AUD) in today’s interbank currency market.
Follow ProPakistani on Google News & scroll through your favourite content faster!
Support independent journalism
If you want to join us in our mission to share independent, global journalism to the world, we’d love to have you on our side. If you can, please support us on a monthly basis. It takes less than a minute to set up, and you can rest assured that you’re making a big impact every single month in support of open, independent journalism. Thank you.
Banks charging us open market at 310 to 320. Govt is manipulating with USD and people are either parking dollars in foreign account or forced to use Hundi Hawala.