KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured a battering on Monday as the benchmark KSE-100 index nosedived by more than 1,100 points in intraday trading, while dollar continued its flight towards record levels against rupee.
KSE-100 Index opened at 44,840.81 points and began going down from the start, taking brief corrections but eventually continuing with its downward trajectory and sinking to 43,525.64 after 12:30pm, which represented an intraday decline of 1315.48 points.
According the experts, the market is under pressure due to the widening current and fiscal account deficit and the depleting foreign exchange reserves.
Moreover, debt repayment and the uncertainty surrounding the talks with the International Monetary Fund for resuming the loan program have also kept the marker on tenterhooks.
Rupee depreciates as dollar touches Rs188.05
Meanwhile, the dollar was trading at Rs188.5 in the interbank at around noon on Monday as the rupee depreciated by Rs1.25, according to the Forex Association of Pakistan. The open market rate of the greenback was Rs187.8 at the same time.
The dollar’s highest level against rupee remains Rs189.25 — a level that was seen on April 1 when the political turmoil was at its apex. In the immediate aftermath of the change in government, it had gone down in the face of the rupee’s strengthening but the correction soon ran out of steam and now the greenback is soaring back to its record high.
Pakistan’s trade deficit widened 65percent during the first 10 months (July-April) of the fiscal year 2021-22 and reached $39.6billion from $23.82billion in the same period of 2020-21.
According to the data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the country’s exports increased 25.46percent and reached $26.22b in the first ten months of the current fiscal year compared to $20.90b during the same period last year.
During Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to discus extending the term of a $3 billion loan to help Pakistan’s new government tide over the prevailing economic crisis.
