PKR Closing: Made to Suffer

May 25, 2022 (MLN): Enduring a rough patch for so long mainly due to political mayhem and a crisis-like situation on the economic front, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) has sunk further as the currency settled today’s trade at PKR 201.92 per USD, depreciating by 51 paisa, compared to the previous closing of PKR 201.41 per USD.

The rupee endured a volatile trading session with quotes being recorded in a range of 1.55 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 202.20 and an intraday low offer of 201.25.

Despite the news regarding Saudi’s extension of a $3bn deposit, PKR could not take a breath in today’s session rather continuing its downward journey amid political chaos.

Pakistan's side is still in talks with the IMF in Doha for the resumption of the $6bn EFF program. officials acknowledge that winning a loan from the fund might involve trade-offs, including the politically tough decision of raising fuel prices.

“We are confident we’ll get to the finish line,” Murtaza Syed, acting governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.

From July’21 to date, the local unit has lost Rs44.37 against the USD. Similarly, the rupee fell by Rs25.4 in CYTD, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a decline of 8.04%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

During the last 52 weeks, PKR lost 23.54% against the greenback, reached its lowest at 201.92 today, and touched its high of 153.69 on May 31, 2021.

Furthermore, the local unit has weakened by 13.49% since its high on July 02, 2021, against EUR while, it has dropped by 14.27% against GBP since its high on July 02, 2021.

In addition, the performance of PKR remained bleak against major currencies in the last seven sessions as it weakened by 5.24%, 3.38%, 3.34%, 2.93%, 2.91%, 1.75%, and 1.75% against CHF, JPY, CNY, GBP, JPY, SAR, and AED respectively.

Within the open market, PKR was traded at 202/203 per USD.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 3 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 253.42 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 253.39 per GBP.

On the other hand, PKR's value strengthened by 18 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 215.92 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 12.75/12.85 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 13.70/13.80 percent.

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