Daily Times

The Pakistani rupee continued its losing streak against the US dollar in the inter-bank on Wednesday and set another all-time low against the greenback within twenty-four hours.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the rupee shed 18 paisas (-0.11 percent) against the greenback in the interbank. The US dollar opened at Rs168.94 and closed at Rs169.12. The rupee made a historic low a day earlier at Rs168.94 to the dollar and failed to stop depreciation in its value, with falling to a new low. Within the open market, the rupee was traded at Rs169.20/169.80 per dollar.

Overall, Pakistani rupee shed Rs1.10 in last three days against the US dollar, while depreciation during the fiscal year 2021-22 has been Rs11.68. The local unit has shed Rs8.85 against the US dollar in the current year 2021. The local currency has maintained downtrend after it touched 22-month high of Rs152.27 in May 2021, losing a cumulative Rs16.81 in the past four months to date.

Currency experts said that the dollar’s demand remained high due to external payment, which resulted in increased dollar’s demand. The prices of oil and food items are soaring in the world markets. In addition to this, businesses are set to make hefty import of plant and machinery to set up new factories and expand the existing production lines under the central bank’s initiative Temporary Economic Refinance Facility (TERF), they said.

They said the rupee is under immense pressure due to unfavourable macro economic data and Afghanistan’s situation. They said that the rising deficit in the current account is also a major concern for the market. They said that dollar outflow to Afghanistan is also a big concern for rupee stability.

They were, however, optimistic that there is no space left for rupee to maintain the downturn, saying if it drops any further, the decline would be unsustainable and short-lived. They opined that the rupee might consolidate at around the current level in the short-run and trade between Rs165-168 over the next six months.