Currency: Rupee stable against dollar

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee ended almost flat at 90.80/85 to the dollar, compared to Tuesday’s close of 90.82/88. The currency 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 March, remittances totalled $1.14 billion. State Bank of Pakistan’s monetary policy statement released last month claimed that the external sector was likely to remain under pressure because of both external debt payments and lack of foreign aid. Overnight rates in the money market ended lower at 9.10%, down from Tuesday’s close of 11.25%, because of increased liquidity in the market.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2012.