Currency: Rupee eases against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee closed almost flat at 90.76/78 to the dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 90.72/77. The rupee has been supported by remittances, which rose 21.45% to $9.73 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $8.02 billion in the same period last year. In its monetary policy statement in April, the State Bank of Pakistan said the external sector was likely to remain under pressure because of both external debt payments and a lack of foreign aid. Overnight rates in the money market ended at 11%, up from Thursday’s close of 9.10% because of decreased liquidity in the market.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2012.