January 13, 2023 (MLN): Amidst dwindling macros and the absence of foreign inflows, the local unit remained under pressure as the currency lost one rupee against the greenback in five consecutive sessions to close the week at PKR 228.15 per USD, compared to the previous week’s close of PKR 227.14 per USD.
Within today’s session, the domestic unit witnessed no major activity, traded in a band of 10 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 228.20 and low offer of 228.10 while in the open market, PKR was traded at 236.10/238.46 per USD.
The currency endured a choppy session throughout the week on the back of plummeting foreign exchange reserves, dwindling macros, delay in fresh inflows, and political upheaval.
At present, the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank stood at $4.34bn, down by $1.23bn during the week ended on January 06, 2023. This drop in reserves marked the lowest after February 28, 2014.
Meanwhile, the workers’ remittances in December 2022 clocked in at $2bn, decreasing by 20% YoY and 4.7% MoM compared to $2.5bn in December 2021 and $2.1bn in November 2022, respectively.
It was the fourth successive month wherein the workers’ remittances recorded a continuous month-on-month decline in inflows mainly due to the increasing spread between official and informal channels.
Currency experts are of the view that in the presence of smuggling activities to Afghanistan, Pakistan is losing around $2bn per month.
In FYTD, PKR lost 23.30 rupees or 10.22%, while it plummeted by 0.44% against the USD in the last seven sessions, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.
Meanwhile, the currency lost 1.2 rupees to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 278.32 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 277.15 per GBP.
Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 1.9 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 247.25 at the interbank today.
On another note, within the money market, The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation (OMO), and Shariah-compliant Mudarabah OMO today, in which it cumulatively injected a total of Rs679.75 billion into the market, from which Rs68.45bn injected into the market for 7 days at 16.25%, and Rs505.30bn for 77 days at 16.25% rate.
The overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 15%/15.1% whereas the 1-week rate was 15.35%/15.45%.
Copyright Mettis Link News
Posted on: 2023-01-13T18:23:38+05:00
