KARACHI: The rupee firmed on Monday, helped by lack of dollar demand from importers, after hitting a record low on Friday but dealers expect the country’s weak economic outlook to continue to weigh on the local unit. The rupee closed at 87.46/53 to the dollar, after being traded at 87.53 on Saturday. “The rupee’s weakest level traded today (Monday) was 87.51 per dollar,” said a dealer at a foreign bank, compared with a record low of 87.59 on Friday. The rupee has had some support from higher remittances from Pakistanis working overseas. According to official data, remittances rose 40.45 per cent to an all-time high of $1.31 billion in August. However, dealers said though there were some inflows, worries about economy and stalled payments from an International Monetary Fund bailout programme are hurting the rupee.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ