Third straight day: Rupee hits new record low of 90.42

KARACHI: The rupee fell to a fresh record low of 90.42 against the dollar for the third consecutive session on Thursday amid increased import payments, especially of oil, and because of a negative outlook on the country’s economy, dealers said. “There are some oil import payments but there are few inflows of dollars and generally there is rising concern about the direction of Pakistan’s economy,” said a bank dealer. The rupee traded at its previous record low of 90.35 to the dollar on Wednesday and dealers said it traded at 90.48 in the TOM (one-day forward) market. The rupee ended at 90.40/45 to the dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 90.27/31. 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 6^th, 2012.