The free-fall of PKR, debt burden skyrockets by Rs.311 bln in a day

June 14, 2019 (MLN): Pakistani rupee (PKR) continued to exhibit extreme levels of volatility at today’s interbank trade as it sharply depreciated by 2.9 rupees against US Dollar (USD) by closing the day and week at PKR 155.85 per USD, against yesterday’s session's closing of PKR 152.9 per USD.

The Rupee endured a explosive trading session, with the value of the currency trading in a range of 4.30 Rupee per USD showing an intraday high bid of 156.8 and an intraday Low offer of 153

In tomorrow’s settlement, the Dollar was quoted at 156.8/157.

During the week, the currency has lost 7.2 rupees against the greenback, as the previous week was concluded at PKR 148.6 per USD.

Commenting on this sharp round of depreciation, renowned economic analyst Mr. Muzammil Aslam told Mettis Link News that, "Extended Eid holidays has complied huge import bill backlog. Rough estimate suggest that over $1 billion was in queue for clearance, while the remittance flows tapered off post Eid. The mis-match between the exports & imports dues coupled with absence of SBP intervention has weakened the Rupee against USD. The adjustment is trade related not due to dollarization.”

Adding on, he said “as we witnessed in May exchange rate moved both sides, we expect similar trend from now on.”

Alternatively, the currency gained 2.5 rupees against the Pound Sterling as the day's closing quote stood at PKR 197.04 per GBP, while the previous session closed at PKR 193.74 per GBP.

On the other hand, PKR's value weakened by 2.9 rupees against EUR which closed at PKR 175.62 at the interbank today.

Within the Open Market, PKR was traded at 155/157 per USD.

Today's  depreciation further weighs down Pakistan's external debt burden by Rs.311.66 billion which in dollar terms accounts for a $105.84 billion. Pakistan now owes external avenues a total of Rs.16.5 trillion.

On another note, within the money market, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) conducted an Open Market Operation in which it injected Rs.800 billion for 7 days at 12.33 percent.

The overnight repo rate towards close of the session was 12.40/12.60 percent, whereas the 1 week rate was 12.30/12.40 percent.

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