May 24, 2021 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) on Monday depreciated by 34 paisa against US Dollar (USD) in interbank session as the currency closed the day's trade at PKR 153.7 per USD, against the last session's closing of PKR 153.36 per USD.
The rupee saw a volatility free session as very little movement was recorded trading in a range of 75 paisa per USD, showing an intraday high bid of 154.00 and an intraday Low offer of 153.34.
Recently, National Accounts Committee (NAC) projected a 3.94% GDP growth rate as post-recovery underway since last summer has strengthened. In this regard, SBP said that this rebound was fueled by a well-calibrated policy response.
Commenting on this, Asad Rizvi, Former Treasury Head-Chase Manhattan Bank, cautioned not to mix up rupee with projected GDP by NAC.The low base rate supports a higher growth rate, however, he said via his Twitter handle that the release of 4th quarter Trade figures, Current Account, Balance of Payment (BoP) and Remittances data will confirm the real growth figure.
He emphasized watching Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) for PKR’s next move.
Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 153/153.80 per USD.
So far in FY21, the home unit has gained by PKR 14.35 or 9.34% against the greenback while it appreciated by PKR 6.14 or 3.99% in CY21 with MTD (month to date) position showing a decrease of 0.16%, as per data gathered by Mettis Global.
Alternatively, the currency gained 21 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 217.27 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 217.47 per GBP.
On the other hand, PKR's value weakened by 10 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 187.44 at the interbank today.
On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 6.75/7.00 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 6.95/7.00 percent.
