Currency: Rupee at record low of 90.20

KARACHI: The rupee traded at a record low on Tuesday because of increased import payments and a deteriorating economic outlook, dealers said. “The rupee was traded at 90.20 (to the dollar) and there were import payments of about $100 million,” said a dealer at a foreign bank. The rupee had traded at its previous record low of 90.03 on Wednesday. The rupee ended at 90.11/16 to the dollar, compared with Friday’s close of 89.95/90.00. Banks were closed on Monday. There are concerns on the economic front as the country’s current account deficit stood at $2.104 billion in July-Nov compared with $589 million in the same period a year earlier. The deficit is likely to widen further in the coming months because of debt repayments and a lack of external aid.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2012.