The Pakistani rupee slid to a new record low against the US Dollar today, making history 2nd day in a row after opening trade at 297 in the interbank market.
At 12:08 PM, it was bearish, falling as low as 299.92. after losing ~91 paisas against the greenback.
It anchored trends for the remainder of the day before close.
Open market rates (documented) across multiple currency counters stood in the 303-309 range.
At close, the PKR depreciated by 0.2 percent to close at 299.63 after losing 62 paisas against the dollar today.
Trends have remained largely red since July after the International Monetary Fund approved a new $3 billion bailout deal for Pakistan. Initially, the PKR rose as high as 275.4, with prominent analysts and Malik Bostan at the time tipping the local currency to rise above 250. However, the US Dollar interbank rate is up by ~Rs. 26 since then.
The black market rate has also moved further away from the Bank rate and trades in the 312-318 band. Meanwhile, currency dealers expect further slippage tomorrow. August may see multiple record lows of somewhere between 300-305.
Pertinently, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 81 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 128 against the greenback. As per exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost 62 paisas against the dollar.
With the exchange rate continuing to plummet, all things lead to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for many analysts who believe that the exchange rate premium is a flawed model and should be redacted.
In all straightforwardness, the July-August currency data points towards covert and brazen violation of the lender’s market premium, an issue that could convince the IMF to revisit the condition and help ease sentiments in the coming months.
The PKR was red against most of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost 20 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), 16 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), 17 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), and 23 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD).
Conversely, it gained Rs. 2.1 against the Euro (EUR) and Rs. 2.31 against the British Pound (GBP) in today’s interbank currency market.
