Currency: Rupee steady against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee ended steady at 98.50/98.55 against the dollar. Heavy debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been putting a dent in the central bank’s reserves and putting pressure on the rupee.

Pakistan, on March 28, successfully paid its 11th instalment worth $143.75 million of Standby Arrangement (SBA) to the IMF. Meanwhile, overseas Pakistani workers had so far remitted $9.234 billion in the ongoing fiscal year, a growth of 7.47% year-on year, or $642 million.

Remittances from Pakistanis abroad rose 6.37% to $11.57 billion in the first ten months, July to April, of the 2012-13 fiscal year, from $10.876 billion in the same period last year. Overnight rates in the money market remained flat at 9.4%.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2013.

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