Daily Times

The Pakistani rupee continued its losing spree despite encouraging reports on the financial front from Saudi Arabia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and fell to a new all-time low of 201.92 against the US dollar on Wednesday. The local currency has been setting all-time new lows for the last 12 sessions. The State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement that the dollar opened at Rs201.41 in the interbank market and closed at Rs201.92 after losing 51 paisa (-0.25 percent). Within the open market, the rupee was traded at 202.5/203.5 per dollar against 202/203 a dollar a session earlier.

The local unit shed Rs1.78 during the last three sessions after losing Rs13.51 during the previous two weeks. Overall, the rupee has depreciated by Rs44.43 against the US dollar during the ongoing fiscal year 2021-22 and Rs25.61 during the current year 2022.

Saudi Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan told Reuters on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia is finalising the extension of the kingdom’s $3 billion deposit to Pakistan. “We are currently finalising extending the $3 billion deposit to Pakistan,” he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Last year, Saudi Arabia deposited $3 billion in Pakistan’s central bank to help support its foreign reserves.

Although the rupee continued to slide, yet talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for loan revival programme, which started on Wednesday last, have slowed its depreciation spree during the last four sessions. The currency experts said that until the IMF resumes its programme, the economic situation will not improve. They said that importers have been engaged in panic buying as they are uncertain about whether or not the government will be able to secure funding from foreign institutions, while exporters have held their earnings outside the country amid a consistent fall in the rupee’s value.