April 06, 2023 (MLN): Breaking its losing streak, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) made a strong comeback against the US dollar as it appreciated by 3.4 rupees in today’s interbank session.

The currency settled the trade at PKR 284.42 per USD compared to yesterday’s closing of PKR 287.85 per USD.

Throughout today’s session, the local unit traded in a band of 2.6 rupees, showing an intraday high bid of 286.6 and low offer of 284.25 while in the open market, PKR was traded at 288/292 per USD.

After enduring a rough ride during the previous three sessions, the news of the IMF’s confirmation of Saudi assistance to Pakistan proved to be a fresh breeze for PKR.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday confirmed that Saudi Arabia has provided confirmation of $2 billion in extra deposits to Pakistan, raising expectations of a prompt signing of the deal.

Since January, the government has been in talks with the IMF to secure the release of $1.1 billion from a $6.5bn bailout package agreed upon in 2019.

Nonetheless, the agreement has been postponed due to commitments from friendly countries to provide further financial assistance.

Meanwhile, the currency gained 5.3 rupees against the Pound Sterling as the day’s closing quote stood at PKR 354.74 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 360 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR’s value strengthened by 5.3 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 310.32 at the interbank today.

In FYTD, PKR lost 79.57 rupees or 27.98%, while it plummeted by 57.99 rupees or 20.39% against the USD in CYTD. On the other hand, within the last seven sessions, the local unit moved down by 0.27%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation (OMO) today, in which it injected a total of Rs925.45 billion into the market for one day tenor at the rate of 21.21%.

The overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 21%/21.25%, whereas the 1-week rate was 21%/21.1%.

Copyright Mettis Link News

Posted on: 2023-04-06T15:40:20+05:00