Rupee Sees Massive Recovery against US Dollar in Interbank Market
Karachi: The Pakistani rupee finally snapped its nine-day long losing streak against the US dollar on Thursday, gaining Rs4.7 in the interbank market, a day after Finance Minister Miftah Ismail announced a $2.3 billion loan agreement with a Chinese banking consortium.
As per the State Bank of Pakistan, the US dollar closed at Rs207.23 in the interbank market. The previous day's closure was at Rs211.93 against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
After losing 5.39% in the last nine sessions, the Pakistani rupee recovered 2.27% day-on-day against the US dollar.
The appreciation was in line with the expectations of market analysts who foresaw that the rupee would see a correction Thursday as it was trading at 208-209.50 against the dollar in the TOM (one-day forward) market.
Since the beginning of this fiscal year (July 1, 2021) to date, the rupee has collectively dropped by a massive 31.54% (or Rs49.69) compared to the previous fiscal year’s close at Rs157.54.
The rupee has maintained a downward trend for the last 13 months. It has lost 36.09% (or Rs54.96) to date, compared to the record high of Rs152.27 recorded in May 2021.
Analysts said that the outlook for the currency is expected to be bullish in sessions ahead given the bright chances of the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, dollar inflows contingent on the IMF into Pakistan, the expected launch of Sukuk by the government, and a fall in the international crude oil prices.
In his comments, Pakistan-Kuwait Investment Company Head of Research Samiullah Tariq said: “I think the rupee-dollar parity should improve as the IMF deal along with the Chinese deposit should improve sentiment in the currency market.”
Pakistan and the IMF achieved progress in striking a consensus on the budget measures for the fiscal year 2022-23 and the latter will share a draft memorandum of economic and financial policies (MEFP) very soon. The government is also expecting the multilateral lender to increase the size and duration of the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) resumed it uptrend on positive economic cues and was trading at 42,916.67 points at 12:49pm with an increase of 458.53 points, or 1.08%. –
Courtesy The News