Pakistani rupee continued setting all-time new lows against the US dollar for the fourth consecutive day, with the local currency falling to 174 on Friday amid talks between the government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for resumption of $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the rupee shed Rs0.04 (-0.02 percent) as the US dollar opened at Rs173.96 and closed at Rs174. Within the open market, the rupee was traded at 174/ 175 per dollar. The Pakistani rupee shed Rs2.70 during the last four sessions against the US dollar, while depreciation during the fiscal year 2021-22 has been Rs16.56. The local unit has shed Rs13.71 against the US dollar in the current year 2021. The local currency has maintained a downtrend after it touched 22-month high of Rs152.48 in May 2021, losing a cumulative Rs21.67 in the past five months to date. Currency experts said that the dollar’s demand remained high ahead of two weekly holidays. They were of the view that rupee is falling due to talks with the IMF, as reportedly the international lender wants further depreciation in rupee till it nears 182 against the dollar. On the other hand, the official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank recorded a decline of $1.646 billion to $17.492 billion by the week ended October 15, 2021 as compared with $19.138 billion by the week ended October 08, 2021. The SBP attributed the decline in foreign exchange reserves to external debt repayment, which included repayment of $1 billion against Pakistan International Sukuk. Furthermore, the current account deficit ballooned to $3.4 billion during July-September 2021 as compared with a surplus of $865 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. This factor also put a pressure on the local currency. Though the central bank has taken a number of steps to ease the pressure on the exchange rate since August, the local currency continues to fall against the US dollar and these measures have miserably failed to produce any positive results.