Currency: Rupee declines against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee ended weaker at 90.85/90 to the dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 90.80/86 because of increased import payments.

Currency 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 its monetary policy statement, the State Bank of Pakistan said the external sector was likely to remain under pressure because of both external debt payments and lack of foreign aid.

Current account deficit widened to a provisional $3.09 billion in the first nine months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $10 million over the same period last 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 28^th, 2012.