September 9, 2021 (MLN): Pakistani Rupee (PKR) could not hold ground for more than a day against US dollar as the currency lost 41 paisa in today’s interbank market, offsetting yesterday’s gain of 38 paisa to close the trade at PKR 167.66.
On Wednesday, the local unit had closed at PKR 167.25 against greenback.
The rupee traded within a narrow range of 40 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 167.70 and a Low intraday offer of 167.30.
Since inflation is within the targeted range while PKR is volatile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is unlikely to take any hast decision pertaining to MPS, as per Asad Rizvi, the Former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan.
“MPS message have been clear about maintaining ACCOMMODATIVE POLICY, but t/bills participants for past 8-months believed that rates have bottomed out & lost 36bp,” he added.
Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 167/168 per USD.
The domestic unit has depreciated by 6.03% or PKR 10.11 in the fiscal year-to-date against the USD. Similarly, the rupee has weakened by 4.67% or PKR 7.82 in CY21, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a decline of 0.52%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.
Meanwhile, the currency lost 1.3 rupees to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 231.38 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 230.1 per GBP.
Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 49 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 198.29 at the interbank today.
On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 7.10/7.20 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 7.10/7.15 percent.
