Currency: Rupee weakens against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee ended weaker at 90.75/80 to the dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 90.71/76 because of a rise in import payments. The rupee has been supported by remittances, which rose 21.45% to $9.73 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year. In March, remittances totalled $1.14 billion. In its monetary policy statement last Friday, the State Bank of Pakistan said the external sector was likely to remain under pressure because of both external debt payments and a lack of foreign aid. Pakistan’s current account deficit widened to a provisional $3.089 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $10 million over the same period in the previous year, the central bank said on Wednesday. Overnight rates in the money market ended flat at 11.90%, unchanged from the previous day’s close amid tight liquidity in the interbank market.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2012.