Currency: Rupee at two-month high

KARACHI: The rupee gained further on Monday to end at a two-month high, amid continuous healthy dollar inflows, but dealers expect the rupee to ease in the coming days when higher import payments are due.

The rupee closed at 84.72/78 to the dollar, compared with Friday’s close of 84.85/90, its highest close since February this year.

Officials believe a record inflow of remittances, strong foreign exchange reserves, healthy exports, and a current account surplus were behind the rupee’s gain in recent days.

Remittances increased by 22.37 percent to over $8 billion in the first nine months of the 2010/11 fiscal year, while remittances for March were recorded at $1.05 billion, according to central bank data.

In the money market, overnight rates were flat at between 13.5 and 13.75 per cent, unchanged from Saturday’s close.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th,  2011.