PKR sheds 2.72 rupees against USD in a week

November 10, 2023 (MLN): The Pakistani rupee (PKR) depreciated by 2.178 rupees against the US dollar this week and settled at PKR 287.03, as compared to the previous week's closing of PKR 284.31 per USD.

In today's session, the local unit lost 13 paisa and saw an intraday high (bid) of 287.4 and a low (ask) of 287.4 against the greenback.

In the open market, the local unit lost 50 paisa as exchange companies quoted the dollar at 286.8 for buying and 287 for selling, compared to the previous closing of 286.3 for buying and 286.5 for selling.

The local unit started today's session positively, gaining around 50 paisa against USD during intraday trade.

This positive sentiment was attributed to the latest Workers' remittances data released by the central bank today, which showed that the remittances have increased by 11.54% MoM in October to $2.46 billion.

However, the pressure resulting from the gap between the demand and supply of dollars again prevailed over the market and the PKR marked its 14th consecutive loss against the greenback.

The easing of trade restrictions, in accordance with the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the Standby Agreement, increased demand for dollars, putting pressure on the local currency.

It is important to mention that Pakistan's trade deficit for the month of October widened by over 38% MoM to $2.099 billion compared to a deficit of $1.518bn from the previous month.

According to Goldman Sachs's analyst, the performance of the local currency has concluded in the backdrop of financing risks and the upcoming elections.

In a recent development, the review mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week appreciated Pakistan's government to meet the targets set by the fund for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24. 

In comparison to major currencies, PKR lost 25.66 paisa against the Euro, closing at 306.26 compared to the previous value of 306.

The British Pound became cheaper by 95.64 paisa, closing at 350.52 compared to 351.48 from a day ago.

Swiss franc saw losses of 16.97 paisa, closing at 317.86 compared to 318.03 from the previous session.

Against the Japanese Yen, PKR gained 0.76 paisa, closing at 1.895 versus 1.903 a day ago.

The Chinese Yuan lost 5.42 paisa, closing at 39.3583 against 39.4125 from the previous session.

The Saudi Riyal closed at 76.52 with a gain of 4.36 paisa from its value of 76.48 a day ago.

The U.A.E Dirham increased in value by 3.4 paisa from 78.112 a day ago to 78.146.

During the current financial year, PKR has depreciated against the Dollar by 1.04 rupees or 0.36%. While the current calendar year has seen PKR depreciate by 60.6 rupees or 21.11%.

In the Money Market, the benchmark 6-month Karachi Interbank Bid and Offer rates inched down by 2 bps to 21.44% and 21.69%.

Furthermore, 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 Rs4.77 trillion into the market.

Of which Rs4.65tr were injected through reverse repo OMO. 

Meanwhile, the remaining Rs122bn was injected through Shariah-compliant Modarabah-based OMO. 

It is important to mention that the in latest PIB auction held on Wednesday, the SBP raised Rs252.3 billion against a target of Rs160bn.

The cutoff yields exhibited a substantial decline, with the yields for the 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year PIBs registering noteworthy decreases of 180, 100, and 15 basis points (bps) respectively.

The decline in yields was attributed to market participants' expectations that interest rates have peaked and are expected to fall in the coming months.

Performance Summary

52 Week Performance

Copyright Mettis Link News