The Pakistani rupee resumed losses against the US Dollar during intraday trade today after opening trade at 287.3 in the interbank market.
At 12 PM, it was bearish, falling as low as 288 after losing ~Rs. 2 against the greenback.
Later, it charged up to the 287 level between 12:30 PM and 1:15 PM and stayed at that level.
Open market rates (documented) across multiple currency counters stayed in the 292-296 range.
At close, the PKR depreciated by 0.31 percent to close at 287.54 after losing 90 paisas against the dollar today.
The informal exchange rate initially docked at 297-300.
Today’s cash rate per dollar in Hundi clocked in at the 298-303 band while many channels (undocumented) reported rates as high as 304.
Today’s losses come after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 22 percent.
While some upside risks to the inflation outlook have emerged, the central bank’s monetary policy committee took note of the expected lagged impact of the accumulated monetary tightening so far, budgeted fiscal consolidation, and the tepid growth outlook for FY24. The MPC particularly noted that year-on-year (YoY) inflation is likely to remain on a downward path over the next 12 months, which implies a significant level of positive real interest rate.
Meanwhile, Pakistan sees almost half of its maturing debt in the fiscal year (FY) 2023-24 be rolled over. In an analyst briefing on Monday, the central bank governor said that around $11.3 billion of the $24.5 billion debt maturing in FY24 will be rolled over. Inflows will be more than enough to cover the remainder of the financing requirement, he added.
SBP anticipates additional declines in dollar bond yields and forex reserves to surge above $10 billion by June 2024.
Overall, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 63 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 111 against the greenback. As per the exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost 90 paisas against the dollar today.
The PKR was bullish against some of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost 22 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), 22 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), and 24 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED).
Conversely, it gained 20 paisas against the British Pound (GBP), 37 paisas against the Euro (EUR), and Rs. 1.19 against the Australian Dollar (AUD) in today’s interbank currency market.
