Rupee remains under stress against US dollar

Pakistan’s rupee ended with a marginal decline for the fourth consecutive session against the US dollar, dropping 0.09% in the inter-bank market on Friday.

As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee closed at 225.64 after a fall of Re0.21 against the greenback. The rupee has depreciated by 21.82% against the US dollar during the ongoing calendar year.

On Thursday, the rupee depreciated against the US dollar, to settle at 225.43 after a decline of Re0.03 or 0.01% in the inter-bank market.

Pakistan’s economic situation continues to remain in the doldrums, as foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP fell another $584 million to a critical level of $6.12 billion, data released on Thursday showed.

This is the lowest level of SBP-held reserves since April 2014.

The low level of reserves underscore the urgent need for the resumption of Pakistan’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, which is currently stalled at the level of talks over the ninth review.

Moreover, global ratings agency S&P Global on Thursday cut Pakistan’s long-term sovereign credit rating by one notch to “CCC+” from “B” to reflect a continued weakening of the country’s external, fiscal and economic metrics.

Globally, the dollar was on the frontfoot on Friday, as solid US economic data reinforced the need for the Federal Reserve to stay on its aggressive monetary policy tightening path and further raised the odds of higher-for-longer rates.

The greenback rose broadly overnight, though was hobbled against the Japanese yen, which has continued to draw solid demand after the Bank of Japan’s surprise policy tweak earlier in the week.

Against a basket of currencies, the US dollar index stood at 104.35.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose more than $1 on Friday on expectations of a drop in Russian crude supply, which helped offset worries of a hit to U.S. transport fuel demand growth as a looming Arctic storm threatens travel during the holiday season.

Inter-bank market rates for dollar on Friday

BID Rs 225.70

OFFER Rs 226.70

Open-market movement

In the open market, the PKR remained unchanged for both buying and selling against USD, closing at 232.25 and 234.50, respectively.

Against Euro, the PKR remained unchanged for both buying and selling, closing at 260 and 262 respectively.

Against UAE Dirham, the PKR lost 10 paisas for both buying and selling, closing at 68.90 and 69.40, respectively.

Against Saudi Riyal, the PKR lost 10 paisas for buying while remaining unchanged for selling, closing at 65.30 and 65.70, respectively.

Open-market rates for dollar on Friday

BID Rs 232.25

OFFER Rs 234.50