PKR weakens to 176.18 per USD

January 18, 2022 (MLN): After witnessing a gain of 46 paisa against the greenback in the last two sessions, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) was back again to its depreciating ways on Tuesday, weakening by 26 paisa to close at PKR176.18 against the US dollar (USD).

The home unit had closed at PKR 175.92 per USD yesterday.

With November REER 98.5436, higher inflation & trade numbers indicate December number could be close to 100, Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at Chase Manhattan said on his Twitter.

Speaking of future outlook, he said that home remittances of $31 billion annually could ease the pressure on the rupee. He expects PKR to gradually inch up until the IMF announcement.

As per the latest development, the IMF board will meet on January 28, 2022, to revive Pakistan’s $6bn bailout package.  To recall, the review meeting was scheduled for January 12, 2022, however, IMF had postponed it on the request of Pakistani authorities.

The rupee saw a volatility-free session as the very little movement was recorded trading in a range of 45 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 176.26 and an intraday Low offer of 175.90.

It is pertinent to note that the 30-days volatility of the rupee-dollar parity is coming down. To note, CY2021 proved to be particularly volatile as the rupee closed to a historic low of 178.23 against the US dollar on December 29, 2021.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 177/178 per USD.

From July’21 to date, the local unit has lost Rs18.63 against the USD. On the other hand, the rupee appreciated by 33 paisa in CY22, with the month-to-date (MTD) position showing an uptick of Rs1.86, as per data compiled by Mettis Global.

Alternatively, the currency gained 39 paisa against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 240.29 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 240.67 per GBP.

Similarly, PKR's value strengthened by 36 paisa against EUR which closed at PKR 200.62 at the interbank today.

On another note, within the money market, the overnight repo rate towards the close of the session was 9.00/9.30 percent, whereas the 1-week rate was 9.75/9.85 percent.

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