The dollar has started riding over the rupee's weakness on the local money market on Saturday in the process of trading activity, dealers said. Commenting on rupee's performance against the dollar in the both inter-bank and open markets, some experts said the short supply phenomenon of the greenback persisted throughout the current week, which helped it to look ahead.
They said that after maintaining a firm trend for several weeks in terms of the dollar, the rupee again started shedding its value owing to strong buying of dollars from all quarters.
They said if the dollar breached an important mark of Rs 139 on the inter-bank market next week, it means, the US currency will start showing its muscles versus the rupee, adding the present developments on the economic front giving an impression that national currency may not be able to keep present levels against the greenback, but it's difficult to predict about new destination of the domestic currency, market men said.
Additionally, according to reports, Prime Minister Imran Khan will meet International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde in Dubai on Sunday (tomorrow) for talks on issues which have held up bailout negotiations.
Pakistan is seeking its 13th bailout since the late 1980s to deal with a current account deficit that threatens to trigger a Balance of Payments (BoP) crisis, but talks have been delayed by difficulties in reconciling IMF reform demands with Islamabad's fears the push is too drastic and could hurt economic growth.
Besides, Pakistan revised its economic growth estimate to 5.2 percent from a previously reported figure of 5.8 percent, after a sharp cut in the figure for large-scale manufacturing, the statistics office said.
The revision of figures reported by the previous government underlines the economic headwinds facing Pakistan which is holding discussions over a possible bailout from the IMF.
OPEN MARKET RATES: The rupee continued overnight weakness against the dollar, losing 20 paisas for buying and selling at Rs 138.20 and Rs 138.70 respectively, while it did not move any side versus the euro for buying and selling at Rs 156.00 and Rs 157.80, they said.
At the weekend, the dollar edged higher against a basket of currencies on Friday, ending its strongest week in six months, as traders piled into the greenback in a safe-haven move on worries about a weakening global economy. The euro hovered at a two-week low with support at $1.13. An index that tracks the greenback versus the euro, yen, sterling and three other currencies was up 0.13 percent at 96.634. With Chinese markets closed for Lunar New Year this week, market volatility declined.
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Open Bid Rs.138.20
Open Offer Rs.138.70
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RUPEE IN LAHORE: The Pak rupee failed to hold its earlier recoveries versus the greenback in the local currency market on Saturday.
According to currency dealers, the short supply phenomenon of the greenback prevailed throughout the trading session which helped its appreciation for buying and selling at Rs 138.20 and Rs 139.00 against the overnight closing trend of Rs 137.60 and Rs 138.25 respectively.
Moreover, the local currency witnessed divergent trend as it moved both ways in relation to the pound sterling which was bought and sold at Rs 177.70 and Rs 178.90 against the Friday's closing rates of Rs 177.55 and Rs 179.00 respectively, they added.
RUPEE IN ISLAMABAD AND RAWALPINDI: The dollar gained 40 paisas against the rupee at the open currency markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi here on Saturday.
The dollar opened at Rs 138.40 (buying) and Rs 138.50 (selling) against last rate of Rs 138 (buying) and Rs 138.10 (selling). It closed at Rs 138.40 (buying) and Rs 138.50 (selling).
The buying and selling rates of one tola of gold was Rs Rs. 67,300 (selling) and Rs 67,000(buying) in the local Sarafa (gold) markets of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
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