KARACHI: After losing its value for weeks, rupee seemed to be gaining some rapid ground on the US dollar as the greenback on Wednesday continued its losing streak in interbank and open market against PKR.
According to forex dealers, the US dollar lost Rs10.38 today in the interbank against the rupee and traded at Rs228 while the banks are selling the greenback at Rs230.
In the open market, the US dollar traded at Rs227.50 after witnessing a reduction in value by Rs11.38.
Overall, the Pakistani rupee has gained nearly Rs12 in the interbank market since Friday. It gained 84 paisa on Tuesday, followed by 53 paisa in this week’s opening session.
Prior to that, the local currency had been on a consistent decline since July 16.
Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday showed the import bill dropped by 12.81 per cent to $4.86 billion in July from $5.57bn over the corresponding month of last year. On a month-on-month basis, the import bill dipped by 38.31pc.
In June alone, the import bill edged up to $7.74bn from $6.28bn over the same month last year, reflecting an increase of 23.26pc. The decline in July will reduce pressure on the rupee-dollar exchange rate.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday confirmed that Pakistan has achieved all the set targets for the revival of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program.
Meanwhile, IMF’s assurances and PKR’s gains has impacted positively on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) as the KSE-100 index gained 433 points on Wednesday morning.
The KSE-100 index traded at 40,625 after gaining 433 points.
