PKR stands firm against dollar

June 03, 2021 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) on Thursday closed the trading session relatively unchanged at PKR 154.79 against the US Dollar (USD) in an interbank forex market.

The rupee traded within a very narrow range of 15 paisa per USD, showing an intraday high bid of 154.85 and an intraday Low offer of 154.73.

The trade data released today showed that Pakistan’s trade deficit during 11MFY21 increased by 30% to stand at $27.27 billion against a deficit of $21.06 billion in the same period last year.

Commenting on this, Asad Rizvi, Former Treasury Head-Chase Manhattan Bank said via his social media account, “Exports for May dipped below $2 billion. Drop in the sale of Furnace Oil & Diesel confirmed a slowdown in activity probably due to EID Holidays. But surge in imports to $49.8 billion during 11MFY21 has widened the trade deficit gap that will not help Rupee, as rising oil prices is another cause of concern.”

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 155/155.40 per USD.

According to the data compiled by Mettis Global, in FY21, the home unit has strengthened by PKR 13.26 or 8.57% against the greenback so far while it appreciated by around PKR 5.04 or 3.26% in CY21 with MTD (month to date) position showing a decrease of 0.25%.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 75 paisa to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 219.47 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 218.73 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 2 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 188.65 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 7.10/7.20 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 7.00/7.05 percent.

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