Currency: Rupee eases against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee eased against the dollar on Monday amid increased demand for the US currency from importers, which dealers said could keep the rupee under slight pressure near-term. “There was an import payment of about $60 million, and the inflows were lower than that, and hence the rupee fell,” said a dealer at a foreign bank. The rupee ended at 89.76/81 to the dollar, compared with Friday close of 89.60/65. It hit a record low of 89.93 to the dollar last week. “The inflows this week are pretty steady, so the rupee may not fall too sharply, but still it is likely to hover around the 89.90/dollar mark,” said the dealer. In the money market, overnight rates ended at top rate of 11.90 percent, up from 9.0 percent on Friday, amid short liquidity, dealers said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2011.