PKR gains 1.8 rupees against US dollar

April 12, 2023 (MLN): Putting an end to its downward journey, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) appreciated by 1.8 rupees against the US dollar in today's interbank session as the currency settled the trade at PKR 286.62 per USD, compared to yesterday's closing of PKR 288.43 per USD.

Throughout today’s session, the local unit traded in a band of 3.1 rupees, showing an intraday high bid of 288.6 and low offer of 286.5 while in the open market, PKR was traded at 291/295 per USD.

The optimism in the interbank market stemmed from the newsflows wherein the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is likely to provide a written guarantee for $1 billion in financing this week as the matters have been finalized for the financing, according to well-informed sources.

Cash-strapped Pakistan is in dire need of funding therefore, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar made a special request to the UAE authorities, Finance Ministry sources said.

 As soon as the guarantee is received from the UAE authorities, the IMF will also receive a written guarantee.

The IMF requires friendly nations to fulfill their pledges to fund Pakistan before finalizing the $6.5 billion bailout program which led to a delay in talks between Pakistan and the IMF to resume the program.

However, with this positive news from the UAE side, Pakistan became one step closer to the much-needed funds. 

Meanwhile, the currency gained 2.4 rupees against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 355.95 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 358.4 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value strengthened by 1.3 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 313.01 at the interbank today.

In FYTD, PKR lost 81.77 rupees or 28.53%, while it plummeted by 60.18 rupees or 21% against the USD in CYTD. On the other hand, within the last seven sessions, the local unit moved up by 0.43%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 21.75%/21.9%, whereas the 1-week rate was 21.15%/21.25%.

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