Rupee at new historic low
Experts say the rupee is expected to stabilise at around Rs175-76 against the dollar ahead of resumption of IMF loan programme. photo: file
The rupee weakened against the US dollar at Rs182.34 in the inter-bank market on Tuesday compared with Monday’s close of Rs182.19, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). It was an all-time low value for the local currency as demand for the dollar stood higher compared to its supply in the wake of an expanding current account deficit, swelling imports and rising global commodity prices. Earlier, the announcement of $3 billion cash deposit by Saudi Arabia in the State Bank helped the rupee to appreciate, however, the recovery proved short-lived. The rupee had been on the downtrend since hitting 22-month high of Rs152.27 in May 2021. The SBP has injected $1.2 billion into the inter-bank market to defend the rupee in the ongoing fiscal year and has pumped a total of $5.8 billion since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government came to power in August 2018.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2022.
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