PKR weakens by 49 paisa against greenback

October 21, 2021 (MLN): In the wake of the mounting pressure of elevated import payments owing to a surge in commodity prices in the international market coupled with the current account deficit of $3.4bn in the first quarter of FY22, PKR continued to lose its ground in the interbank market each passing day.

Against the US dollar, the domestic unit shed 49 paisa in today's interbank session as the currency closed the trade at PKR 173.96, against yesterday's closing of PKR 173.47 per USD.

The rupee endured a highly volatile trading session with quotes being recorded in a range of 1.35 rupees per USD showing an intraday high bid of 174.10 and an intraday Low offer of 172.75.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 173.8/175 per USD.

The domestic unit has depreciated by 9.44% or PKR 16.41 in the fiscal year-to-date against the USD. Similarly, the rupee has weakened by 8.12% or PKR 14.12 in CY21, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing a decline of 1.90%, as per the data gathered by Mettis Global.

Meanwhile, the currency lost 1.2 rupees to the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 240.18 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 238.96 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value weakened by 77 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 202.49 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation in which it mopped up Rs.70.3 billion for 1 day at 7.2 percent.

The overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 7.00/7.20 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 7.25/7.40 percent.

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