PKR recovers by 11 paisa against USD

February 16, 2022 (MLN): Snapping a two-day losing streak, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) managed to offset some of the previous losses by 11 paisa against the US dollar on Wednesday as the currency closed the trade at PKR 175.67 in the interbank session.

The rupee traded within a very narrow range of 30 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 175.80 and an intraday low offer of 175.65.

The local unit had lost 1.07 rupees against the greenback during the previous two sessions of the ongoing week mainly on the rising oil prices which are hovering around $100 on Russia Ukraine tussle.

However, on the news of pulling back some of the Russian troops from the Ukraine border have started cooling down the prices of oil and gold in the international market which is also reflected in terms of stability in today’s interbank session.

Though the geopolitical tension started settling the rising import bill on account of the jump in oil prices has kept PKR under severe pressure.

On the domestic front, the government had to increase the petroleum prices by Rs10.03 per litre to an all-time high of around Rs160 per litre which will have a widespread impact on the economy particularly on the logistics and transportation business.

Meanwhile, the local unit has lost Rs18.12 against the USD from July’21 to date, Whereas, the rupee appreciated by PKR 0.84 paisa in CY22, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a gain of 0.59%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

However, the performance of PKR remained comparatively better against major currencies during one month as the local unit appreciated by 2.28%, 1.62%, 1.46%, and 1.41% against AUD, CAD, CNY, and GBP, respectively. On the other hand, PKR has depreciated by 0.78% against EUR and lost some ground by 0.35% against CHF.

Within the open market, PKR was traded at 176.50/177.50 per USD.

The currency gained 16 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 238.14 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 238.3 per GBP.

On the other hand, PKR's value weakened by 41 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 199.84 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 10.20/10.40 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 9.95/10.05 percent.

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