Currency Rupee weakens against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee ended at 86.64/70 to the dollar, weaker than Tuesday’s close of 86.60/65, amid higher import payments, dealers said. The rupee fell to a record low of 86.83 this month but dealers said a further slide in the local unit is likely to be prevented by a rise in remittances from overseas Pakistanis. According to official data, remittances rose 38.57 percent to $1.1 billion in the first month of 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $791.18 million in the same period last year. In the money market, overnight rates ended lower at between 10.75 percent and 11.0 percent, compared with the previous day’s close of 13.0 percent amid increased liquidity in the interbank market.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 18^th, 2011.