Rupee drops 0.60% to Rs261.50 against dollar

Lost ground on conflicting reports about the revival of IMF programme

KARACHI:

The Pakistani currency dropped 0.60%, or Rs1.58, to an almost one-week low at Rs261.50 against the US dollar in the interbank market, ending the previous four-day winning streak on Tuesday.

The currency partially lost ground against the greenback on conflicting reports about the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme.

Finance ministry’s former advisor Dr Khaqan Najeeb said in a short commentary, “A delay in the IMF creates jitteriness which is why the rupee slid (to) 261.50 in the interbank.”

Earlier, the local currency had cumulatively recovered 6.4% (or Rs16.66) in the past one-month to Rs259.92/$ on Monday. A downtick in the currency after a notable recovery was not surprising. Prior to that, the currency had lost 16.5% in 10 days to an all-time low at Rs276.58/$ on February 3, 2023.

Experts anticipated the rupee would stabilise in the range of Rs255-260, against the greenback under the ongoing cycle of settlement.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1^st, 2023.

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