Daily Times

The rupee closed the week against the US dollar in the interbank market on strong footing and appreciated by nine paisas on Friday.

According to details, the rupee opened at 278.30 against the greenback in the interbank market and closed at 278.21, inching up by 0.03 percent. The rupee appreciated by around 18 paisas against the US dollar this week while it registered a slight decline against the US dollar last week as it settled lower by Re0.08 or 0.2%. The local unit ended at 278.39 against 278.31 it had closed the week earlier against the greenback. Earlier, the local unit snapped a four-month winning streak against the US dollar in the interbank market and edged lower by 0.13 percent in April. According to details, the rupee depreciated by Rs0.36 in April after improving by Rs1.16 in March, Rs0.39 in February, Rs2.36 in January and Rs3.31 in December. Overall, the rupee has improved by Rs7.69 against the greenback during the current fiscal year 2023-24.

The domestic currency has alleviated pressure and experienced a slight rebound this week on the positivity surrounding IMF’s immediate disbursement of around $1.1 billion to Pakistan under the $3bn standby arrangement. This amount will be reflected in SBP reserves for the week ending on May 03, 2024. To note, Pakistan’s 9-month SBA, approved by the Executive Board on July 12, 2023, successfully provided a policy anchor to address domestic and external imbalances and a framework for financial support from multilateral and bilateral partners. In a related development, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP increased by $25 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $8 billion as of April 26, data released on Thursday showed. Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.3 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.3 billion. The central bank did not specify a reason for the increase in the reserves.