The Pakistani rupee remained stable against the US dollar in the open market on Tuesday, while the local currency edged lower in the inter-bank market.
Currency dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was quoted at 276.50 for selling and 273.50 for buying purposes for customers.
However, at the end of trading, the currency closed at 277 for selling and 274 for buying, the same rates as of the previous session, according to data provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP).
Meanwhile, the Pakistani rupee finally ended its 28-session winning streak against the US dollar, as it depreciated 0.07% in the inter-bank market on Tuesday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan, the local unit settled at 277.03 after a decrease of Re0.20 in the inter-bank market.
Under one of the structural benchmarks set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the gap between rates in the inter-bank and open markets is required to be less than 1.25%.
JS Global, a brokerage house, on Tuesday said the current open-market and interbank-market gap currently stands at around 0.7%.
The ongoing appreciation comes after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) scaled up efforts to clip the wings of the high-flying dollar and announced a list of “structural reforms” last month, targeting the Exchange Companies (ECs).
To date, the central bank suspended the authorisation of nine exchange companies for noncompliance of rules and regulations and serious violations.
Apart from central bank measures, the caretaker setup also ramped up efforts against smugglers and hoarders of currency and as a result, countrywide raids were reported with dozens of illegal currency exchanges barred from running operations and foreign currency worth millions confiscated.
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