PKR takes a dizzying dive of 8.7 rupees, down to 298.93 per USD

May 11, 2023 (MLN): The political turmoil and deteriorating law and order situation have shoved the Pakistani rupee (PKR) into a dark tunnel, plunging by 8.7 rupees against the US dollar in today's interbank session.

Accordingly, the local unit touched a historic low and settled the trade at PKR 298.93 per USD, against yesterday's closing of PKR 290.22 per USD.

Throughout today’s session, the local unit traded in a band of 10.75 rupees, showing an intraday high bid of 299 and a low offer of 290.25 while in the open market, PKR was traded at 299/304 per USD.

The local unit is being under heavy pressure since Tuesday when the news of Imran Khan's arrest made rounds in the media, creating panic. Since then, major cities of the country have turned into battlegrounds wherein the power show of law enforcement agencies and protestors is going on. 

This ongoing situation has raised the concerns of market participants who are anticipating a further hike in the dollar's value. 

According to the experts, the aforestated anticipation of a further hike in the dollar's value is forcing importers to arrange as many dollars as soon as possible.

At the same time, export receipts are not being encashed by the exporters to get maximum benefits in the future. 

Meanwhile, the currency lost 10.1 rupees to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 376.33 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 366.26 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 8.9 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 326.85 at the interbank today.

In FYTD, PKR lost 94.08 rupees or 31.47%, while it plummeted by 72.50 rupees or 24.25% against the USD in CYTD. Within the last seven sessions, the local unit moved down by 5.05%, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 20%/20.25%, whereas the 1-week rate was 20.55%/20.65%.

Copyright Mettis Link News