April 30, 2020 (MLN): Pak Rupee's Real Effective Exchange Rate Index (REER) decreased by 0.98 percent in March 2020 to a provisional value of 96.27 from the revised value of 97.22 in February 2020.
According to data published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the REER index has decreased by 2.43 percent compared to March 2019.
Similarly the Nominal Effective Exchange rate Index (NEER) decreased by 1.9 percent in March to a provisional value of 62.48 from the revised value of 63.69 in February. On a yearly basis, the NEER Index has decreased by 9.48 percent.
PKR closed March at 166.7037 against the USD showing a depreciation of 8.09 percent compared to its value in February 2020. However, Compared to March 2019 PKR has depreciated by by 18.41 percent.
REER is a measure of the value of a currency against a weighted average of several foreign currencies, a decrease in REER implies that exports have become cheaper while imports become more expensive therefore, this decrease indicates an increase in trade competitiveness.