The US dollar maintained its upward trajectory against a weakening Pakistani rupee, and reached the 323 level during open-market trading as gap with the inter-bank rate widened to over 5%.

On Tuesday, dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was being quoted at 323 for selling and 320 for buying purposes for customers in the open-market, in comparison to 318-321 recorded in the previous session.

The domestic currency also remained under pressure in the inter-bank market and closed at over 303, as per the State Bank of Pakistan.

Experts said concerns over Pakistan’s rising imports as restrictions ease, a widening current account deficit, and falling foreign exchange reserves with no inflows in sight are keeping pressure on the rupee.

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).

However, the gap – called the premium by the IMF in its country report on Pakistan published after the Stand-By Arrangement’s approval by the Executive Board – has been widening over the past few weeks.