Daily Times

Pakistani rupee plummeted against the US dollar for the fourth consecutive day and depreciated to 186.97 on Thursday.

The State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement that the rupee opened at 185.92 against the US dollar in the interbank market and closed at 186.97 after shedding Rs1.05 (-0.56 percent). Within the open market, the rupee was traded at 186/187.80 per dollar against 186/187.50 a day earlier.

During the last four days of this week, the rupee has shed Rs5.42 against the US dollar and slipped to 186.97 from 181.55. Overall, the rupee devalued by Rs29.54 against the US dollar during the ongoing fiscal year 2021-22 and Rs10.52 during the current year 2022.

According to experts, the rupee is under severe pressure due to a set of economic challenges including depleting foreign exchange reserves, foreign direct disinvestment, widening fiscal deficit and raging commodity prices.

Pakistan paid $2.5 billion to China in the last week of March but the said amount has not yet been reversed in terms of roll-over. This is putting pressure on reserves. They said that rising crude oil and commodities prices are further adding to the woes by multiplying import bills, which is further weighing on the rupee. Higher import payment owing to the 96 percent increase in petroleum products and crude oil imports has put pressure on the domestic unit.

The foreign exchange reserves of the country dropped for the ninth straight week by $0.45 billion (2.57 percent) on a week-on-week basis to reach $17.03 billion. The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased to $10,849.6 million, while reserves held by commercial banks increased to $6,178.5 million.