PKR snaps 17-day losing streak against USD

November 16, 2023 (MLN): The Pakistani rupee (PKR) snapped its 17-day long losing streak, appreciating by over 76 paisa against the US dollar in Thursday's interbank session to settle at PKR 287.38, as compared to the previous day's closing of PKR 288.14.

The local unit saw an intraday high (bid) of 288.04 and a low (ask) of 287.

In the open market, the local unit gained 50 paisa as exchange companies quoted the dollar at 288.5 for buying and 289.5 for selling, compared to the previous closing of 289 for buying and 290 for selling.

This upswing follows the staff-level agreement successfully being reached between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistani authorities on the first review under Pakistan's Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).

Pending approval by the IMF's Executive Board, the agreement will grant Pakistan access to SDR 528 million, which is around $700m.

This will bring the total disbursements under the program to almost $1.9 billion.

In the statement issued by the IMF yesterday, the Fund said that strengthening macroeconomic sustainability and laying the conditions for balanced growth are key priorities under the SBA.

The authorities’ policy priorities include returning to a market-determined exchange rate and rebuilding FX reserves.

While inflows following increased regulatory and law enforcement helped normalize import and FX payments and rebuild reserves, the authorities recognize that the rupee must remain market-determined to sustainably alleviate external pressures and rebuild reserves.

To support this, they plan to strengthen the transparency and efficiency of the FX market and refrain from administrative actions to influence the rupee.

The pressure resulting from the gap between the demand and supply of dollars prevailed over the market for 17 consecutive days and the PKR remained under pressure.

However, as per Bloomberg's latest report, the local unit's outlook will improve following the International Monetary Fund’s preliminary approval for the release of the next loan tranche under the current $3bn loan program.

In comparison to major currencies, PKR gained 1.55 rupees against the Euro, closing at 311.6 compared to the previous value of 313.15.

The British Pound became cheaper by 3.27 rupees, closing at 355.9 compared to 359.17 from a day ago.

Swiss franc saw losses of 96.94 paisa, closing at 323.44 compared to 324.41 from the previous session.

Against the Japanese Yen, PKR gained 1.36 paisa, closing at 1.898 versus 1.912 a day ago.

The Chinese Yuan lost 19.61 paisa, closing at 39.6048 against 39.8009 from the previous session.

The Saudi Riyal closed at 76.63 with a loss of 20.06 paisa from its value of 76.83 a day ago.

The U.A.E Dirham decreased in value by 20.81 paisa from 78.451 a day ago to 78.242.

During the current financial year, PKR has depreciated against the Dollar by 1.39 rupees or 0.48%. While the current calendar year has seen PKR depreciate by 60.95 rupees or 21.21%.

In the Money Market, the benchmark 6-month Karachi Interbank Bid and Offer rates inched down by 36 bps to 21.09% and 21.34%.

It is important to mention that in yesterday’s T-Bills auction, the central bank sold Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) worth Rs1.161 trillion for 3,6 and 12 months against a target of Rs1.5tr.

A record-high participation in 12-month MTBs was seen for the third consecutive auction.

The yields for all three tenors fell by 45-50 bps, to 21.5%, once again indicating the market’s expectations of the peak in interest rates.

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