PKR dives by 56 paisa on political turmoil, IMF delay

March 15, 2023 (MLN): Political noise and delay of much needed IMF tranche have forced the Pakistani rupee (PKR) to lose 56 paisa against the US dollar in today's interbank session as the currency settled the trade at PKR 282.85 per USD compared to yesterday's close of PKR 282.29 per USD.

Throughout today’s session, the local unit traded in a band of 1.4 rupees, showing an intraday high bid of 283.40 and low offer of 282.5 while in the open market, PKR was quoted at 282/285 per USD.

The streak of depreciation is primarily attributed to the delay in the IMF tranche and the political turmoil.

Ongoing clashes between supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and the police made matters worse which has left investors wary, leading to uncertainty in the currency market once again.

In FYTD, PKR lost 78 rupees or 27.58%, while it plummeted by 56.42 rupees or 19.95% against the USD in CYTD. On the other hand, within the last seven sessions, the local unit moved down by 1.32%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 90 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 343.89 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 343 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 1.8 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 303.61 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 19.5%/19.75%, whereas the 1-week rate was 19.55%/19.65%.

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