Currency: Rupee weakens

The rupee ends weaker at 84.93/98 to the dollar because of increased import payments.

KARACHI: The rupee ended weaker at 84.93/98 to the dollar, compared with Tuesday’s close of 84.74/79 because of increased import payments, but dealers expect the local currency to be stable in the short term due to a rise in remittances.

Remittances from overseas Pakistanis increased by 23.81 per cent to over $9 billion in the first ten months of the 2010/11 fiscal year, and in April $1.03 billion was received, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.

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