Currency : Rupee firms, overnight rates rise

KARACHI: The rupee ended slightly firmer at 86.30/36 to the dollar compared with Wednesday’s close of 86.32/37, because of higher remittances. Remittances rose by 38.57 per cent to $1.1 billion in the first month of 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $791.18 million in the same period last year, according to official data released by the State Bank of Pakistan. In the money market, overnight rates rose to 13.4 per cent compared with the previous day’s close of 10.6 per cent amid tight liquidity in the interbank market.

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