Currency: Rupee ends almost flat against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee also ended almost flat at 90.90/99 to the dollar, compared with Monday’s close of 90.91/97. Dealers expect pressure on the rupee to persist because of rising international prices of oil, which was trading slightly above $123 a barrel on Tuesday. Islamabad started repaying an $8 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan on Friday with a $399 million payment. Dealers said they were also cautious after the IMF advised Pakistan to take immediate steps to tackle growing budget pressures and raise interest rates to contain inflation. The central bank kept the key policy rate flat at 12 percent for the next two months in its monetary policy announcement earlier this month. In the money market, overnight rates were unchanged at its top level of 11.90 per cent amid increased liquidity in the interbank market.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 29^th, 2012.