PKR bleeds further by 1.9 rupees against USD

April 19, 2022 (MLN): Continuing its journey on the slippery slope, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) has further slid by 1.9 rupees against US dollar in today's interbank session as the currency closed the trade at PKR 184.44, compared to yesterday's closing of PKR 182.54.

The rupee endured a highly volatile trading session with quotes being recorded in a range of 2.55 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 184.95 and an intraday low offer of 182.55.

Depleting foreign exchange reserves, raging commodity prices and surging import bill have created a strong spell of depreciation once again.

In the wake of massive economic challenges, the government has decided to resume talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival and completion of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program from today which would give some breathing space for the local unit.

In addition, the performance of PKR remained bleak against major currencies in today’s session as it weakened by 1.03%, 1.03%, 1%, 0.98%, 0.97%, and 0.92% against AED, SAR, CHF, CNY, GBP, and EUR, respectively.

From July’21 to date, the local unit has lost Rs26.89 against the USD. Similarly, the rupee fell by Rs7.92 in CYTD, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a drop of 0.52%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

Within the open market, PKR was traded at 184.30/185.80 per USD.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 2.3 rupees to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 239.92 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 237.6 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 1.8 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 198.9 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 11.50/11.70 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 12.25/12.35 percent.

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