Currency: Rupee recovers from record low

KARACHI: The rupee firmed on Thursday because of increased inflows, after hitting a record low of 90.03 to the dollar the previous day, but dealers expect pressure on the local unit because of bleak economic outlook for the country. The rupee ended at 89.33/49 to the dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 89.90/96. It has lost about 4.2 per cent this year. “There were some inflows of about $85 million today which helped support the rupee,” said a bank dealer. However the rupee is likely to slowly depreciate in the medium term because of pressure on Pakistan’s external accounts. The current account deficit stood at $2.10 billion in July November 2011 compared with $589 million in the same period a year earlier.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2011.