Rupee continues to sink, falls to Rs232 against USD

The downward pressure on the rupee remained on Monday as it fell by Rs4.15 to Rs232.51 against the US dollar in the interbank market.

The value of the greenback continues to rise owing to the political instability in the country.

On Friday, the price had increased by Rs4.70 and crossed Rs230 at one point in the interbank market but later came down to Rs228.36.

Market talk had suggested that the rupee recorded the largest drop last week after 1998.

It is pertinent to note that the State Bank of Pakistan had injected Rs918.50 billion in commercial banks at increased rate of return of 14.90% for six-day period on Friday.

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Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Monday, however, expressed confidence that the pressure on the rupee will reduce in the next week as the government has “succeeded to reduce imports.”

In an exclusive talk with Radio Pakistan's correspondent Zahid Hameed, Miftah appeared confident that the economic targets set for the current fiscal year will be achieved as a result of better decision-making by the present government.

“Pakistan currently stands in a position where its new imports are less than exports and remittances,” he explained, recalling that there were imports of $80 billion and exports of $31 billion during the last fiscal year.