Currency: Rupee stable against dollar

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee closed almost flat at 90.74/79 to the dollar, compared with Friday’s close of 90.76/78. The currency has been supported by remittances, which rose 21.45% to $9.73 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2011/12, compared with $8.02 billion in the same period last year. In March, remittances totaled $1.14 billion. State Bank of Pakistan’s monetary policy statement claimed that the external sector was likely to remain under pressure because of both external debt payments and lack of foreign aid. Overnight rates in the money market ended at 11.90% percent, up from Friday’s close of 11% because of decreased liquidity in the market.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2012.