PKR closes the week at 178.51 per USD

March 11, 2022 (MLN): After holding the ground in the last two sessions, the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) managed to gain 12 paisa in the interbank session on the last trading day of the week, mainly due to the strong performance of workers' remittances in the month of February that stood at $2.2 billion despite fewer working days.

As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee closed the trade at PKR 178.51 per USD, against yesterday's closing of PKR 178.63 per USD.

According to Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan Bank, “This increase in remittances is encouraging, which is in line with my forecast.”

While, during the eight months of the ongoing fiscal year, remittances have shown a growth of 7.6% YoY to $20.1 billion compared to the same period last year.

By the end of this fiscal year, it should surpass $30bn, he said.

On the other hand, foreign exchange reserves with SBP dropped by $250mn to $16.2bn due to large increases in oil bill that could exert pressure on the current account.

The rupee traded within a very narrow range of 10 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 178.60 and an intraday low offer of 178.55.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 178.80/179.50 per USD.

During the week, the currency has lost 1 rupee against the greenback, as the previous week was concluded at PKR 177.5 per USD as the global commodity prices firmed up sharply amid Ukraine- Russia tension.

Meanwhile, the currency gained 1.9 rupees against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 233.63 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 235.55 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value strengthened by 1.3 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 196.29 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, SBP conducted an Open Market Operation in which it injected Rs.2.61 trillion for 7 days at 9.76 percent.

The overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 9.80/10.00 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 9.95/10.05 percent.

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