PKR secures 8th consecutive weekly gain against USD

January 05, 2024 (MLN): The Pakistani rupee (PKR) appreciated by 46 paisa against the US dollar this week and settled at PKR 281.4 per USD, compared to the previous week's closing of PKR 281.86 per USD.

In today's session, the home currency saw an intraday high (bid) of 281.6 and a low (ask) of 281.5 and closed with a gain of 27 paisa.

In the open market, Exchange Companies quoted the dollar at 280 for buying and 282.8 for selling.

Note, that this marks the eighth consecutive weekly gains witnessed by the local unit against the greenback.

One of the key developments during the week was that the local unit snapped its 13-day-long winning streak against the greenback in the first trading session of 2024, depreciating by a mere 3.37 paisa against the US dollar.

However, the home currency made a strong comeback on Wednesday and maintained its upward trend towards the last trading session of the week.

The positive market sentiments, attributed to the expectations of the approval of the second loan tranche worth $700 million by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), continue to benefit the local currency.

It is worth highlighting that Pakistan has been included in the IMF's meeting agenda for January 11, 2024.

Moreover, the latest trade numbers released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) have also shown satisfactory results as the country's trade deficit reduced significantly by 13.43% MoM and 40.13% YoY in December.

The improvement in the trade deficit is attributed to a significant 9.29% MoM surge in exports, combined with a marginal yet crucial 0.55% MoM decline in imports.

In comparison to major currencies, PKR gained 72.14 paisa against the Euro, closing at 307.34 compared to the previous value of 308.07.

The British Pound became cheaper by 81.17 paisa closing at 356.67 compared to 357.49 from a day ago.

The Swiss franc saw losses of 1.59 rupees, closing at 330.42 compared to 332.01 from the previous session.

Against the Japanese Yen, PKR gained 2.34 paisa, closing at 1.9406 versus 1.964 a day ago.

The Chinese Yuan lost 9.65 paisa, closing at 39.29 against 39.38 from the previous session.

The Saudi Riyal closed at 75.03 with a loss of 7.1 paisa from its value of 75.1 a day ago.

The U.A.E Dirham decreased in value by 7.45 paisa from 76.62 a day ago to 76.69.

During the current financial year, PKR has appreciated against the Dollar by 4.59 rupees or 1.63%. While the current calendar year has seen PKR appreciate by 46.1 paisa or 0.16%.

In the Money Market, the benchmark 6-month Karachi Interbank Bid and Offer rates inched down by 3 bps to 21.13 and 21.38%.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted a reverse repo and Shariah-compliant Modarabah-based Open Market Operation (OMO) today, in which it cumulatively injected a total of Rs1.25 trillion into the market.

Of which Rs1.21tr were injected through reverse repo OMO.

Meanwhile, the remaining Rs49 billion was injected through Shariah-compliant Modarabah-based OMO. 

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