Daily Times

After an extended weekend and the holiday for Muharram, the intrabank trading started back up on Wednesday morning, and the Pakistani rupee bulldozed the US dollar once more.

The rupee soared by Rs2.54 as soon as the forex dealers began trading, devaluing the US dollar to Rs221.50 by 10:45 am.

For a sixth straight working session, the Pakistani rupee has strengthened against the US dollar in the interbank market.

On Friday, the US dollar was worth 224.04 Pakistani rupees as opposed to 226.15 Pakistani rupees the day before, when the local currency had increased by 1.17 percent.

After falling to a record low toward the end of July, the Pakistani rupee surged as much as 8.5% in the first few days of August, marking the biggest gain in more than five years.

The Pakistani rupee experienced significant one-day gains against the US dollar on Wednesday when it increased by more than nine Pakistani rupees in the interbank market, causing the US dollar to lose more than 6% of its value in relation to the rupee over the previous five trading sessions.

According to SBP statistics, the currency had previously declined by more than 13 percent over the course of the previous 10 consecutive working days, reaching an all-time low on July 28 when it closed at 239.94 Pakistani rupees. Last week, the UAE said it plans to invest $1 billion in Pakistani enterprises in a variety of economic and investment areas as the country navigates a tough economic situation.

Moreover, economist and former adviser to the federal ministry of finance Dr Khaqan Hassan Najeeb said that the factors that led to pressure on the rupee are unwinding, and thus, the rupee is strengthening.

When it comes to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) programme revival, the lender’s Executive Board will meet on August 24 to consider Pakistan’s request to approve the Extended Fund Facility.

But the IMF has asked Pakistan to ensure a financing gap of $4 billion as a condition for the programme’s revival, which the government is trying to arrange from friendly countries.

Pakistan’s powerful quarters have approached US officials, as well as officials from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to get the necessary financial backing for the revival of the delayed IMF programme.