The Pakistani rupee endured further losses against the US dollar in the open market on Monday, while the local currency also weakened in the inter-bank market.
During the day, currency dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was being quoted at 287 for selling and 284 for buying purposes for customers.
At the end of trading, the currency closed at the same rates, according to data provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP).
During the previous week, the PKR gained 1.75 rupees for both buying and selling against USD, closing at 283.50 and 286.50, respectively.
In the inter-bank market, the rupee continued to fall for the third successive session against the US dollar as it depreciated 0.09% on Monday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan, the local unit settled at 285.64, a decrease of Re0.27.
The gap between rates in the inter-bank and open markets is required to be less than 1.25% under one of the structural benchmarks set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Pakistan is operating under a caretaker government after a $3 billion IMF loan programme was approved in July to avert a sovereign debt default.
Earlier this month, the IMF staff and Pakistani authorities reached a staff-level agreement on the first review of the IMF Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) program. The government expects approval from the IMF’s executive board in December.
The funding from the Washington-based lender is critical for the cash-strapped South Asian economy, which struggles with foreign exchange reserves.
Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported a steep decline of $217 million in its foreign exchange reserves to $7.18 billion due to debt repayments during the week ended on November 17.
The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $12.3 billion while holdings of the commercial banks were $5.12 billion during the week.
Meanwhile, market experts said that the local currency is expected to be range-bound and susceptible to news flows.
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