The rupee continues to appreciate against the dollar. The US dollar lost more ground against the Pakistani rupee on Wednesday, despite the country suffering severe economic losses as a result of devastating floods. According to government authorities, the flood damage is estimated to have cost more than $10 billion. They also said that the country had a responsibility to assist the South Asian nation in coping with the effects of man-made climate change. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Executive Board’s permission to issue the crucial $1.17 billion tranche was a critical factor in the rupee’s upward trend. With the revival of the IMF programme, Pakistan is expected to receive funds from multilateral and bilateral organisations, apart from friendly countries. The rupee was changing hands at 218 per dollar after gaining 2.12 during intraday trade in the interbank market. Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for todayhttps://t.co/ZcQOhfdSLR pic.twitter.com/hAkk3FCsMx — SBP (@StateBank_Pak) August 30, 2022 Yesterday, the rupee’s value was appreciated by Rs1.80 bringing down the rate of the US dollar to Rs220.12. The completion of review will help catalyze crucial external financing from multilateral and bilateral development partners. The Board has also approved the extension of the program through end-June 2023, and augmentation of access by SDR 720 million (US$ 934) increasing the total program size to SDR 4,988 million equivalent to 245.6 percent of quota. Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) General Secretary Zafar Paracha told a private news channel that he expects the local unit to keep appreciating and fall to 200 in the coming days. Paracha highlighted that as the deal materialised after a long delay, the government took some measures for fiscal tightening that led to an increase in smuggling. Apart from the smuggling of dollars to Afghanistan, Paracha said that the heavy regulatory duties imposed on imports led to an increase in the smuggling of commodities — which resulted in a shortage of dollars. He noted that although the amount from the global money lender amounted to $1.1 billion, it will pave the way for Pakistan to get additional funds from other multilateral and bilateral organisations. Paracha said that the foreign direct investment would also increase and expected that the overall economy would witness a boost in the coming days.