June 14, 2021 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) on Monday witnessed a pressure in the local currency market as it depreciated by 44 paisa against US Dollar (USD) in an interbank session to close at PKR 156.19 per USD as debt servicing pressure weighed on the local unit.
On Friday, the home unit had closed at PKR 155.74 per USD.
The rupee traded within a very narrow range of 50 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 156.20 and an intraday Low offer of 155.85.
In a tweet, Ali Khizar, an Economist said that PKR has crossed 156. Foreign debt repayments and import pickups put pressure on the rupee.
He noted that the better economic activities and upward movement in international commodities are exerting pressure on the rupee.
Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 155.90/156.30 per USD.
According to the data gathered by Mettis Global, in FY21, the home unit has so far appreciated by PKR 11.86 or 7.60% against the greenback while it gained by around PKR 3.65 or 2.33% in CY21 with MTD (month to date) position showing a decrease of 1.15%.
Alternatively, the currency gained 63 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 219.94 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 220.57 per GBP.
Similarly, PKR's value strengthened by 25 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 189.22 at the interbank today.
On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 7.15/7.30 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 7.10/7.15 percent.
