PKR closes at 205.16 per USD, plummeting by 1.3 rupees

June 14, 2022 (MLN): Continuing its downward journey, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) has crossed the mark of 205 against US dollar in today’s interbank session as the currency settled at PKR 205.16, depreciating by 1.3 rupees.

During the session, the rupee endured a highly volatile trading session with quotes being recorded in a range of 2 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 205.50 and an intraday low offer of 204.

Within the open market, PKR was traded at 204.50/206 per USD.

In difficult times when the economic outlook is uncertain, market confidence has flattered, Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan Bank said.

“And IMF is asking to do more. SBP should step in to communicate with the market, as the volatile condition is not likely to ebb & hence PKR will continue to wobble,” he added.

In the absence of a much-needed IMF bailout package along with dwindling macros, PKR is under severe pressure, Malik Bostan, President of Forex Association of Pakistan told Mettis Global.

From July’21 to date, the local unit has lost Rs47.61 against the USD. Similarly, the rupee fell by Rs28.65 in CYTD, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a decline of 3.27%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

During the last 52 weeks, PKR lost 23.60% against the greenback while reaching its lowest at 205.16 on June 14, 2022, and the highest of 156.74 on June 17, 2021.

Furthermore, the local unit has weakened by 13.07% since its high on July 02, 2021, against EUR while, it has dropped by 13.03% against GBP since its high on July 02, 2021.

In addition, the performance of PKR remained bleak in FYTD as it weakened by 23.21%, 23.18%, 19.92%, 17.79%, 12.84%, 12.75%, and 6.91% against AED, SAR, CNY, CHF, GBP, and JPY, respectively. 

Meanwhile, the currency lost 62 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 249.83 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 249.2 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 1.3 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 214.87 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 13.75/14.00 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 13.75/13.85 percent.

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