PKR keeps holding ground against US dollar

December 15, 2022 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) continued to hold its ground against the greenback in the interbank market as the local unit settled the trade at PKR 224.71 per US dollar.

During the session, the rupee traded in a band of 15 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 224.65 and low offer of 224.75 while in the open market, PKR was traded at 231.90/234.21 per USD.

It was the second consecutive session wherein PKR managed to hold its ground. The stability mainly stemmed from the news flows wherein IMF termed the discussions on the 9th review of Pakistan's Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) productive.

However, on the back of a continuous decrease in remittances and delay in foreign inflows, the rupee may come under pressure in days to come.

In FYTD, PKR lost 19.85 rupees or 8.84%, while it plummeted by 48.19 rupees or 21.45% against the USD in CYTD, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

Alternatively, the currency lost 37 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 278.03 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 277.65 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 41 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 239.12 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation (OMO) today, in which it injected Rs879.15 billion into the market for 1 day at 16.06%.

The overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 16.25/16.50%, whereas the 1-week rate was 16.04/16.14%.

Copyright Mettis Link News