Daily Times

The Pakistani rupee finally recovered against the US dollar on Wednesday, as the government reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restart the loan programme.

As soon as trading began, the Pakistani seized the lead and earned a long-overdue gain of nearly one rupee.

The development comes after weeks of persistent declines in the rupee’s value, which has been largely attributed to the country’s rising import bill, depleting foreign exchange reserves and uncertainty regarding the IMF programme.

According to currency traders, the rupee has recovered 98 paisas versus the US dollar and is presently trading at Rs210.50.

The dollar had concluded at Rs211.48 as trade ended on Tuesday, up Rs1.52. The situation was significantly worse in the open market, as the US dollar gained Rs2.50 and reached Rs216 on Wednesday.

The US dollar has gained around Rs29 since the new government’s installation. The dollar rate on April 12, 2022, was Rs182.01.

According to recent reports, cash-strapped Pakistan has secured the much-needed IMF deal for the revival of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) after agreeing to raise the petroleum levy by Rs50/litre, implement an 11 percent sales tax on POL products beginning next month, and revise the tax revenue target from Rs7,005 billion to Rs7,450 billion, according to the 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

The government has committed to levy Rs5 per litre on petrol every month for the next ten months, till it hits Rs50/L.