Currency: Rupee firms against dollar
rupee ended firmer at 90.65/70 to the 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 14th, 2012.
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 14th, 2012.