PKR slides by 99 paisa against USD

April 18, 2022 (MLN): After holding a gaining momentum throughout the week, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) has joined back its downward trail on Monday as the currency slipped by 99 paisa in the interbank market to close the session at PKR 182.54 per USD, compared to previous session's closing of PKR 181.55.

The rupee endured a highly volatile trading session with quotes being recorded in a range of 1.10 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 182.50 and an intraday low offer of 181.60.

Widening fiscal and trade deficit have always been a major culprit behind a strong spell of depreciation. It seems that the impact of clarity on the political front has been wearing off and the economic challenges have taken back their position to hit PKR.

The real test for the new managers is the economy. The deterioration in the Exchequer balance is primarily driven by sharp increases in imports, Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan Bank said.

Rising oil prices and skyrocketing commodities prices are further adding to the woes that need to be checked immediately, he added.

From July’21 to date, the local unit has lost Rs24.99 against the USD. Similarly, the rupee fell by Rs6.02 in CYTD, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing an up of 0.51%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

During the last 52 weeks, PKR lost 16.58% against the greenback, reached its lowest at 182.54 today and touched its high of 152.27 on May 7, 2021.

Furthermore, the local unit has weakened by 6.91% since its high on May 5, 2021, against EUR.  While, it has dropped by 10.76% against GBP since its high on May 7, 2021.

In addition, the performance of PKR remained satisfactory against major currencies from month to date as it weakened by 4.74%, 3.89%, 2.77%, 1.45%, 0.96%, 0.51%, and 0.47% against JPY, EUR, CHF, CNY, AED, and SAR, respectively.

Within the open market, PKR was traded at 182.30/183.50 per USD.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 49 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 237.6 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 237.1 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 85 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 197.07 at the interbank today.

The overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 11.75/12.00 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 12.25/12.35 percent.

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