PKR closes flat at 174.87/USD

February 10, 2022 (MLN): After witnessing a volatile trading session, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) settled the day’s trade against the US dollar relatively unchanged at 174.87.

The rupee traded in a range of 70 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 175.50 and an intraday low offer of 174.90.

To note, the local unit took a downward slide on the third consecutive session as the currency lost a further 46 paisa during intraday trade at the interbank market. However, in the later hours, it gained back its strength and managed to close nearest to the previous session’s closing.

According to Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan, for the next 2-4 weeks it is likely to remain stable within the 2% band, as no major event is in pipeline.

Higher oil price is the only worrying factor, he added.

Meanwhile, the local unit has lost Rs17.32 against the USD from July’21 to date, Whereas, the rupee appreciated by PKR 1.64 in CY22, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a gain of 1.04%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

The month to date performance of PKR remained comparatively better against major currencies as the local unit appreciated by 1.41%, 1.62%, 1.46%, 0.23%, and 0.19% against GBP, CAD, CNY, SAR, and AED, respectively.

On the other hand, the currency weakened by 0.78% and 0.35% against EUR and CHF, respectively during the same period.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 176.20/177.20 per USD.

Meanwhile, the currency gained 25 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 236.91 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 237.16 per GBP.

On the other hand, PKR's value weakened by 26 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 199.86 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation (OMO) in which it injected Rs414.9 billion into the market for 8 days at 9.82 percent.

The overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 9.90/10.10 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 9.80/9.90 percent.

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