Daily Times

The rupee snapped a two-day winning streak against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday and depreciated by four paisas. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that the rupee opened at 279.04 against the dollar in the interbank market and closed at 279.08, depreciating by 0.1 percent.

The local unit gained 15 paisas last week against the greenback. This was the second consecutive weekly win witnessed by the domestic unit against the mighty dollar. The local unit remained at the losing end in the first three sessions of the last week, however; the last two helped the currency gain ground. Overall, the rupee has improved by Rs9.21 during the current fiscal year 2023-24. The local unit improved by Rs0.39 in February, Rs2.36 in January and Rs3.31 in December, while it shed Rs3.69 against the US dollar in November after gaining Rs6.26 (+2.23 percent) against the greenback in the month of October.

Similarly, the local unit lost traction against the greenback in the open market. The rupee was quoted at 280.5 for buying and 281.8 for selling against 278 for buying and 280 for selling a session earlier, according to data provided by different exchange companies. The rupee surged against the greenback by Re1 in February, Rs2 in January and Rs3.50 in December. In a key development last week, Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) upgraded the outlook of Pakistan’s banking sector to ‘stable’ from ‘negative’ as macro challenges and fiscal pressures ease.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said last week that it will support the formulation of a new medium-term economic programme for Pakistan. The IMF Resident Representative in Pakistan Esther Perez Ruiz said on Friday that its aim is to support the implementation of strong policies to deepen financial stability, address the longstanding economic and underlying balance of payments challenges, and restore sustained and inclusive growth for the benefit of all Pakistani citizens. In a related development, inflow of overseas workers’ remittances clocked in at $2.25 billion in February 2024, 6.2 percent lower on a month-on-month basis when compared to $2.4 billion in January 2024, showed data released by the SBP on Friday. On a yearly basis, the monthly inflow of remittances registered an increase of 13 percent as it stood at $1.99 billion in the same month of the previous year, data showed.