Currency: Rupee declines against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee continued to ease against the dollar on Tuesday amid steady demand for the US currency from importers, but dealers said the rupee should hold steady around current levels near-term amid healthy inflows. “I don’t see any further sharp fall in the rupee, and it should hover around the current levels for the next week or two,” said a dealer at a local bank. The rupee ended at 89.90/95 to the dollar, compared with the previous day’s close of 89.76/81. It hit a record low of 89.93 to the dollar last week. In the money market, overnight rates ended at top rate of 11.90 percent, unchanged from Monday’s close, amid short liquidity, dealers said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2011.