Currency: Rupee firms, overnight rates flat

KARACHI: The rupee closed at 84.30/38 to the dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 84.43./48 amid a lack of import payments and fresh dollar supply, and dealers said the local unit is expected to stay range-bound despite rising oil prices.

The rupee touched an 11-month high last week because of a record inflow of remittances in March, strong foreign exchange reserves, healthy exports and a current account surplus, according to analysts and officials.

In the money market, overnight rates ended flat at 13.90 per cent, unchanged from the previous day’s close, and dealers said there were scheduled inflows of Rs293 billion ($3.47 billion), against outflows of Rs245 billion ($2.9 billion).



Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2011.