PKR gains 2 paisa against USD

February 02, 2022 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) kept its gaining streak intact against the greenback in today’s interbank session as the currency settled the trade at PKR 176.41, witnessing a meagre gain of 2 paisa.

The rupee endured a relatively dull trading session with very little intraday movement, trading in a range of 20 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 176.45 and an intraday low offer of 176.30.

At present, the performance of PKR is satisfactory as it is showing enough resistance against the dollar. However, rising commodity prices in the international markets are all set to further hit the current account balance of Pakistan which will pose a serious threat to the resistance of PKR.

With Inflation hitting 13% YoY and 7MFY22 averaging 10.26%, it is surely heading higher by the end of FY22, Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan said today. 

"Higher oil prices are widening the current account deficit and imports need to be curtailed or else pressure will exert on the fragile recovery which will increase the risk to the macro stability," he added.

During the day, the currency lost its value against GBP, CHF, EUR and JPY by 0.38%, 0.35%, 0.24%, and 0.19%, respectively. On the other hand, the local unit made some gains by 0.01% against USD, AED and CNY.

Meanwhile, the local unit has lost Rs18.86 against the USD from July’21 to date, Whereas, the rupee gained some ground by 10 paisa in CY22, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showed a meagre appreciation of 0.17%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

According to the ECAP, PKR gained 50 paisa for buying and selling over the day closed at 176.50 and 177.50 respectively in the open market.

Alternatively, the currency lost 90 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 238.84 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 237.94 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 47 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 199.11 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 10.20/10.40 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 9.85/9.95 percent.

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