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KARACHI: Due to the burgeoning import payments and trade deficit, the Pakistani currency hit an all-time low of Rs168.94 against the US dollar in the interbank market on Tuesday.
The Pakistani currency briefly touched an all-time low of Rs169 in the inter-bank market during intra-day trade, before making a modest pullback from that level.
Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for today:https://t.co/YJuBsxtmX6 pic.twitter.com/2Cn6zciz7R
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) September 14, 2021
With the latest drop of Rs0.84 in intra-day trading on Tuesday, the rupee has lost 7.28% (or Rs11.51) to date since the start of the current fiscal year on July 1, 2021.
The local currency has maintained downtrend after it touched 22-month high of Rs152.27 in May 2021, losing a cumulative 10.92% (or Rs16.63) in the past four months to date.
The highest value of the dollar against the rupee was last recorded at Rs168.43 on August 26 last year. However, the fear of higher current account deficit in FY22 is also a strong force convincing the buyers to book more dollars for future imports.
The central bank has projected the country’s trade deficit to widen to 2-3% of GDP in FY22 compared to 10-year low at 0.6% in FY21.