PKR closes at lowest since March 15

June 16, 2021 (MLN): The Pakistani Rupee continued to lose ground against US Dollar (USD) in the interbank market as it closed the trade at 156.96 on Wednesday, its lowest close since March 15, 2021 and 17 paisa lower than yesterday's closing of PKR 156.79 per USD.

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 156.95 and an intraday Low offer of 156.75.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 156.50/157.50 per USD.

Commenting on the downward movement of the rupee, a foreign exchange dealer said that there is an increasing demand for American currency in the market. In addition, the concerns that the rupee would remain under pressure after the budget also weighed down on the home unit.

“It may further depreciate to 157.50 - 157.75 by June 30. However, the recovery is expected in the first two weeks of July,” a dealer said.

The home unit has gained 7.07 percent against the greenback fiscal year-to-date while the appreciation has been 1.83 percent in CY21 with a month-to-date position showing a decrease of 1.63 percent.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 65 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 221.42 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 220.77 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 30 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 190.36 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 7.75/7.90 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 7.10/7.15 percent.

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