PKR dips by 77 paisa against USD

February 14, 2022 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) took a nosedive by 77 paisa against the greenback in today's interbank session as the currency settled the trade at PKR 175.47.

On Friday, the local unit had closed the session PKR 174.71 per USD, witnessing a small gain of 16 paisa.

The rupee traded within a range of 75 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 175.50 and an intraday low offer of 174.80.

Wiping off the market expectation pertaining to PKR’s strong appreciation, the domestic unit took a slide, witnessing a sharp fall of straight 77 paisa. As per money market experts, PKR is enduring the pressure of trade deficit and elevated demand for dollars in the interbank market due to geopolitical issues.

Meanwhile, the remittances in January remained moderated to $2.14 when compared to $2.52 in December 2021 due to seasonality but remained above the $2bn threshold for the 20th consecutive month.

Expressing his views, Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan said, “Fall in remittance in January is normal, as working days were reduced to 19. The roughly daily average is $120 million.”

However, February remittances could be slightly better. But higher oil prices are generating considerable pressure adding to the burden that may weaken PKR and push inflation higher, he added.

From July’21 to date, the local unit has lost Rs17.92 against the USD whereas, the rupee appreciated by PKR 1.04 in CY22, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a gain of 0.70%, 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 1.75%, 1.61%, 1.47%, 1.37%, 1.39%, 0.38%, and 0.35% against AUD, EUR, CAD, CHF, CNY, GBP, and SAR, respectively.

Within the open market, PKR was traded at 176.75/177.75 per USD.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 9 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 237.05 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 236.96 per GBP.

On the other hand, PKR's value strengthened by 58 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 198.53 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 10.10/10.25 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 9.85/9.95 percent.

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