Currency: Rupee weakens, overnight rates flat

KARACHI: The rupee weakened to 86.25/30 against the dollar from 86.15/19 on Thursday, amid high dollar demand from importers. Dealers said healthy remittances from Pakistanis living abroad had been supporting the rupee in previous trading sessions, but cautioned that a widening current account deficit means the local currency could experience downward pressure in the days ahead. Pakistan’s current account deficit surged to a provisional $908 million in September, compared with a deficit of $201 million in August. In the money market, overnight rates ended flat at the top level of 11.90% amid tight liquidity in the interbank market.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th,  2011.