Currency: Rupee weakens against dollar

Rupee came under pressure following heavy debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund

KARACHI: The rupee weakened against the dollar at 104.6/104.8 in the inter-bank market on Friday compared to Thursday’s close of 104.4/104.6. The currency market has fluctuated regularly in recent months with hefty rises and falls on some occasions. In the long run, however, the rupee has stood firm after experiencing extensive volatility, when it weakened from around Rs98 to a dollar to above Rs103 in the wake of political impasse over alleged election rigging. Earlier, the rupee remained glued to the Rs98 level for months, recovering from the historic low of Rs110. It came under pressure following heavy debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other creditors, which ate into the central bank’s foreign currency reserves. In 2013-14, the reserves, however, swelled more than 50%, thanks to IMF and other assistance and growing remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 28^th, 2017.

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