Currency: Rupee firm against dollar

Heavy debt repayments to IMF had dented central bank’s foreign currency reserves, putting pressure on rupee.

KARACHI: The rupee remained steady at 98.3/98.5 against the dollar on Wednesday compared to Tuesday’s close of 98.3/98.5. Earlier, heavy debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had dented the central bank’s foreign currency reserves, which declined significantly, putting pressure on the rupee. Pakistan paid the 30th loan instalment of $109 million to the IMF on April 1 this year. However, with a sharp increase in reserves in the past few months, the rupee has appreciated significantly. According to data provided by the State Bank of Pakistan, overseas Pakistanis remitted $14.333 billion in the first 11 months (July-May) of the current fiscal year. They had sent home a record $13.92 billion in the previous fiscal year (July 2012-June 2013), a growth of 5.56% or $733.64 million compared with $13.187 billion a year earlier.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014. 

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