The promises of providing an additional $1 billion dollars and the rollover of $2 billion in loans by the United Arab Emirates and further $1 billion financing for oil from Saudi Arabia has helped reduce some of the pressure on the rupee which managed to slow losses against the US dollar on Friday. According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday afternoon, the rupee effectively lost next to no value against the dollar. The data showed that the rupee had closed on Thursday at Rs228.14. On Friday, it closed at Rs228.15, down by a single paisa. It meant that the rupee remains under pressure due to poor reserves. Since the beginning of the year, the rupee has lost around Rs1.72 in value. The last time a US dollar was traded for Rs228 was back in September 30, 2022, when a single US dollar was being sold for Rs228.45, with the rupee on an appreciating trend. Meanwhile, in material information submitted to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) – KSE-100 index on Friday, PSMC said that further to their last letter of January 6 which announced to close the plant from January 9 to January 13, that the company will keep its automobile plant closed for another week, starting from January 16 to January 20. “Due to continued shortage of inventory level, the management of the company has decided to extend the shutdown of automobile plant,” the letter read. It added that the motorbike production plant, however, will remain operational. This is the third such closure announcement by PSMC over the past month.