PKR slides by 1.11 rupee in a week

September 10, 2021 (MLN): Continuing the downward journey, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) on Friday closed the trade at 168.02 per USD, its lowest close since August 26, 2020, depreciating by 36 paisa in the interbank market.

On Thursday, the home unit had closed the session at PKR 167.66 against greenback.

The unfavorable macros and Afghanistan’s situation have offset the impact of workers’ remittances that have maintained strong trend, reaching $2.66 billion in August 2021. This is the sixth consecutive month when inflows recorded around $2.7bn on average, and the fifteen consecutive months they have been above $2bn.

PKR opened the on the weaker note today as it lost 49 paisa, earlier during the trade. Throughout the session, the rupee moved within the range of 70 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 168.25 and an intraday Low offer of 167.55.

During the week, the currency has lost 1.11 rupees against the greenback, as the previous week was concluded at PKR 166.908 per USD.

According to Asad Rizvi, the Former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan, “Rupee should not be allowed to dip below 170-175 levels.”

The widening gap between Inter Bank and Open Market Rate will create serious repercussions including inflationary pressure, he added.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 168.3/169 per USD.

Alternatively, the currency lost 1.81 rupee to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 233.1978 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 231.3808 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 76 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 199.0557 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation in which it injected Rs2.04 trillion for 7 days at 7.1 percent.

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.

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