PKR drops by 18 paisa against greenback

December 09, 2021 (MLN): The prevailing state of uncertainty has pushed the Pakistani rupee (PKR) towards further depreciation against the US dollar as the currency closed the day's trade at PKR 177.61, shed 18 paisa.  

During the session, the rupee traded in a range of 70 paisa, witnessing an intraday high bid of 178.15 and an intraday low offer of 177.45.

As per economic managers, the rupee is under the pressure of soaring import bill which needs to be curtailed immediately as the depleting forex reserves will hardly cover the bill for around three months if it continues to report around the same figures.

However, Zafar Paracha told Mettis, “Given the ongoing macro-economic condition, PKR should not have crossed 165 per USD.”

He associated the fall of PKR with the IMF conditionalities. Adding into it, he said that government should clarify the situation and take market participants in confidence in order to terminate the prevailing uncertainty as the given situation is only benefitting the speculators.

As per the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP), PKR lost 70 paisa for buying and 80 paisa for selling over the day closed at 179 and 180.30 respectively in the open market.

The local unit has depreciated by 11.30% or PKR 20.06 in the fiscal year-to-date against the USD. Similarly, the rupee has weakened by 10.01% or PKR 17.77 in CY21, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a decline of 1.06%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

Alternatively, the currency gained 40 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 234.53 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 234.92 per GBP.

On the other hand, PKR's value weakened by 85 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 201.08 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 8.75/9.00 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 9.15/9.25 percent.

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