The Pakistani rupee reported more losses against the US Dollar today after opening trade at 279 in the interbank market.
At 11:30 PM, it was bullish, treading the 276-277 level against the greenback after gaining ~Rs. 2.
Later, the interbank rate dropped to the 279 level between 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM before anchoring trends for the remainder of the day. Open market rates across multiple currency counters stood in the 275-280 range today.
At close, the PKR depreciated by 0.11 percent to close at 279.43 after losing 31 paisas against the dollar today.
The rupee closed in red for the second consecutive day today. Traders said the forex market struggled to carry last week’s momentum amid political developments taking shape in the country.
The gap between interbank and open market rates is down by Rs. 60 since 4 September. The rates have gone down to as low as 277 and have since continued brief spikes to 281 today.
Pertinently, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 62 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 109 against the greenback. As per exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost 31 paisas against the dollar.
In a key development, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in its annual report projected that Pakistan’s GDP growth rate will settle between 2 and 3 percent in the current financial year 2023-24 as compared to the target of 3.5 percent. The GDP growth stood at 0.3 percent in FY23, 6 percent in FY22, and 5.8 percent in FY21.
The central bank warned in its report that macroeconomic indicators of the country will fail to achieve the targets, including export receipts to be between $25.5 billion to $26.5 billion rather than $30.5 billion; inflows of remittances are expected to be around $29 billion against $30 billion target for FY24, while the fiscal deficit will go beyond 7-8 percent of the GDP against the target of 6.5 percent.
The PKR was red against all of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost seven paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), eight paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), Rs. 1.37 against the Euro (EUR), Rs. 1.73 against the Australian Dollar (AUD), and Rs. 2.70 against the British Pound (GBP).
Moreover, it lost 72 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) in today’s interbank currency market.
Source: Pro Pakistani