KARACHI: Pakistani rupee on Thursday registered historic depreciation against the US dollar in the interbank market, settling with a loss of 9.6 percent in a single session as Pakistan moved to fulfill IMF condition of a ‘free-float exchange rate’.
As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee closed at 255.43 against the US dollar, a depreciation of 9.61% or Rs24.54.
Earlier during the day, the currency was trading at 231.
Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for todayhttps://t.co/8oc0zHCyvM pic.twitter.com/eBX6rw3FIF
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) January 26, 2023
Many analysts said the rupee was bound to see significant depreciation as Pakistan moved to meet conditions of the IMF to revive its bailout program.
The rupee has been on a depreciating run for a while, but the magnitude of the fall has been low.
On Wednesday, the rupee had registered a loss for the 26th successive session against the US dollar to settle at 230.89 after a decrease of Re0.49 or 0.21%.
Meanwhile, Ecap Chairman Malik Bostan said that commercial banks were not supplying dollars to exchange companies despite the SBP’s directives. “The cap on the dollar rate has been removed which is why it is appreciating. It can continue to rise till supply resumes.”
He urged the SBP to ensure commercial banks supplied dollars to the exchange companies.
