Currency: Rupee strengthens against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee strengthened at 98.3/98.5 against the dollar on Friday compared to Thursday’s close of 98.4/98.6. 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 installment of $109 million to the IMF on April 1. 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 12^th, 2014.

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