Currency: Rupee firms against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee ended firmer at 90.65/70 to the dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 90.69/75. The rupee has been supported recently by remittances from Pakistanis overseas, which rose 21.45% to $9.73 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $8.02 billion in the same period last year. In March, remittances totalled $1.14 billion. Overnight rates in the money market fell to end between 10.50% and 11%, compared with the previous day’s close of 11.90% amid increased liquidity in the interbank market. The State Bank of Pakistan kept its key policy rate unchanged at 12% for the subsequent two months to rein in inflation and because of weak external accounts. The announcement was made after markets had closed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 14^th, 2012.