PKR weakens 55 paisa in a week

August 13, 2021 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) held its ground in today’s interbank session as it closed the trade at PKR 164 against the USD.

However, the fall in SBP’s foreign reserve to $17.622 million indicates that PKR is still under the pressure, Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan said.

Yesterday, SBP released FX numbers that shows a decline of USD 223 million mainly due to external debt repayments and payments for the import of Covid-19 vaccine.

“As long as wider trade gap persist, deficit looms and basics are not addressed, the pain will not subside. It’s the faster pace of imports that hurts,” he added.

The rupee endured a relatively dull trading session with very little intraday movement, trading in a range of 25 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 164.25 and an intraday Low offer of 164.05.

During the week, the currency has lost 55 paisa against the greenback, as the previous week was concluded at PKR 163.45 per USD.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 163.7/164.5 per USD.

As per data gathered by Mettis Global, the home unit has depreciated by 3.94% and 2.54% in FY22 and CY21, respectively with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a drop of 0.96%.

Alternatively, the currency lost 1 rupees to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 227.38 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 226.38 per GBP.

On the other hand, PKR's value strengthened by 6 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 192.57 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation in which it injected Rs.2.25 trillion for 7 days at 7.09 percent.

The overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 7.10/7.25 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 7.10/7.15 percent.

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