KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee remained stable against the US dollar on Wednesday and traded at Rs156.16 and Rs156.25 in the interbank and open markets, respectively till the last report came in. On Monday, the local currency gained 24 paisa against the greenback and closed at Rs156.52.
On Friday, the rupee appreciated by 66 paisa against the dollar and closed at Rs156.86 in the interbank market.
It is pertinent to mention here that in September, 2018, the greenback traded at Rs134 and later in November, it weighed around Rs142. At the end of previous year, the local currency traded at Rs139.40 against the dollar.
Earlier, economists had expressed fears that the rising oil prices in the international market after attacks on Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Aramco oil facilities would adversely affect the rate of US dollar. They had termed the development as “bad omen for Pakistan’s economy.”
In the previous two months, the local currency had recovered significantly against the greenback in the interbank market.
Currency traders were of the view that the increasing inflows of remittance in have supported the local rupee in the market.
Earlier, the rupee was observed to cumulatively depreciate against the greenback, which in turn had resulted in increased prices of goods and hardships for the general public.
The SBP has let the rupee depreciate significantly in the inter-bank market after finalising an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a loan programme on May 12.
The IMF has asked Pakistan to end state control of the rupee and let the currency move freely to find its equilibrium against the US dollar.
On the other hand, the World Bank Group has also supported the idea of leaving the rupee free from state control in an attempt to give much-needed boost to exports and fix a faltering economy.
After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lent the first tranche of $991.4 million to Pakistan, the local currency had depreciated massively.
The stringent conditions – on which the global moneylender has formally approved the bailout package of $6 billion for Pakistan – seemed to have exerted more pressure on the local currency.
The gradual drop in the rupee had come due to high demand for the dollar against thin supply as the country continued to make aggressive international payments to partially pay off huge foreign debt and for imports.
Economists were of the view that effective measures must be implemented on the priority basis to recover the state from the balance of payment deficit.
Besides increased demand of the greenback in the local market, they had termed ‘balance of payments deficit’ as the main reason in the recent hike in the value of the US dollar.
Moreover, they had considered that state’s exports and investment were required to grow significantly, and the imports must be reduced to remove pressure on the local currency.
According to experts, the government must ensure implementations on economic policies after the deal with the IMF.
It is anticipated that the US dollar rate would fluctuate for some time, and the value of the Pakistani rupee would stabilise after proper implementation of the economic policies.
PSX observes bearish trend
Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a negative trend on Wednesday as the benchmark KSE-100 index lost 176 points and slipped to 31,652 points.
The recent simmering tensions between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India over Kashmir dispute had pushed investors to adopt cautious behaviour in the trading.
Moreover, since the passage of the financial budget for the fiscal year 2019-20, the stringent policies had been reflecting themselves in the downfall of the stock market.
