PKR jumps by three rupees per USD

August 11, 2022 (MLN): Maintaining its gaining spree, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) appreciated by three rupees against the US dollar in today's interbank session as the currency closed the trade at PKR 218.88 compared to yesterday's closing of 221.91 per USD.

The rupee endured a volatile trading session with quotes being recorded in a range of 4.15 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 220.15 and an intraday low offer of 217 while in the open market, PKR was traded at 213/215.80 per USD.

The news flow wherein it was mentioned that Pakistan is expected to receive the Letter of Intent (LoI) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), strengthened the market sentiments.

Senior officials at the Finance Ministry told The News that the fund was likely to send an LoI “anytime soon as the IMF’s mission chief had to rush to Australia for some personal engagement”. “We may receive LoI within the next 24 hours and then it will be jointly signed by the Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail and Governor SBP.”

Speaking to Mettis Global, Malik Boston, President of Forex Association of Pakistan said that the austerity measures taken by the government helped the rupee to appreciate against the dollar.

He seems hopeful that if stability remains intact on the political front, the US dollar will go below PKR 180 and will sustain for months.

Commenting on the LoI from the fund, he said, if LoI is finalized then the foreign investment in Pakistan will significantly increase due to economic stability.

In FYTD, PKR lost 14.03 rupees or 6.41%, while it plummeted by 42.36 rupees or 19.36% against the USD in CYTD. On the other hand, within seven sessions of the ongoing month, the domestic unit has marked a recovery of 9.36%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

During the last 52 weeks, PKR lost 25.07% against the greenback while reaching its lowest at 239.94 on July 28, 2022, and the highest of 164 on August 13, 2021.

Furthermore, the local unit has weakened by 15.24% and 16.41% against EUR and GBP, respectively, since the high on August 20, 2021.

Meanwhile, the currency gained 95 paisa or 0.36 against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 267.5 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 268.45 per GBP. Similarly, PKR's value strengthened by 64 paisa or 0.29% against EUR which closed at PKR 226.15 at the interbank today.

In addition to it, the local unit has also been appreciated by 1.38%, 1.30%, 1.13%, 7.97%, and 0.21%, 7.94%, respectively whereas, PKR has depreciated against JPY by 0.35% in today's session. 

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 15.35/15.50%, whereas the 1-week rate was 14.75/14.85%.

Copyright Mettis Link News