The Pakistani rupee fell 7th day in a row against the US Dollar today after opening trade at 280 in the interbank market.
At 11:30 PM, it was bearish, treading the 282 level against the greenback.
Later, the interbank rate eased back to the 280 level between 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM before anchoring trends for the remainder of the day. Open market rates across multiple currency counters stood in the 280-283 range today.
At close, the PKR depreciated by 0.19 percent to close at 281.47 after losing 52 paisas against the dollar today.
The rupee closed in the red for the 7th consecutive day today. Meanwhile, the gap between interbank and open market rates is down by Rs. 54 since 4 September. The rates have gone down to as low as 280 and have since continued brief spikes to 283 today.
Pertinently, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 64 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 111 against the greenback. As per exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost 52 paisas against the dollar.
In a key development, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 22 percent.
The Committee noted that headline inflation rose in September 2023 as expected.
While the recent volatility in global oil prices as well as the increase in gas tariffs from November 2023 pose some risks to the FY24 outlook for inflation and the current account, the Committee also noted some offsetting factors. These include the targeted fiscal consolidation in Q1; improvement in market availability of key commodities; and the alignment of interbank and open market exchange rates.
The PKR was red against all of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost 14 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), 14 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), 31 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), and Rs. 2.43 against the Euro (EUR).
Moreover, it lost 70 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) and Rs. 2.06 against the British Pound (GBP) in today’s interbank currency market.
