PKR joins back old trail, down by 63 paisa against greenback

February 21, 2023 (MLN): On the back of continuous delay to unlock the IMF program, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) has finally given up in today’s session, depreciating by 63 paisa against the US dollar as the currency settled the trade at PKR 262.51 per USD compared to yesterday's closing of PKR 261.88 per USD.

Throughout the session, the local unit traded in a band of 85 paisa, showing an intraday high bid of 262.75 and low offer of 262.40 while in the open market, PKR was traded at 265/268.5 per USD.

Though the government has almost complied with all the conditions of the fund, the delay in Staff Level Agreement (SLA) has once again messed with the market sentiments.

Currency experts suggest that the local currency may remain volatile until the fund signs SLA. 

In the latest development, the SLA with the fund will be finalized within three working days, Secretary Finance Mr. Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh revealed on Tuesday during a media briefing. 

Meanwhile, the country has reportedly received promising indications of financial support from China and Saudi Arabia, its long-standing allies which will also take some pressure off the local unit. 

In FYTD, PKR lost 57.66 rupees or 21.97%, while it plummeted by 36.08 rupees or 13.75% against the USD in CYTD. On the other hand, within the last seven sessions, the local unit moved up by 1.84%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

Alternatively, the currency gained 6 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 315.45 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 315.5 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value strengthened by 9 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 280.1 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 16.00/16.15 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 16.65/16.75 percent.

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