The Pakistani rupee continued its upward trajectory against the US dollar in the open-market on Thursday as the gap with the inter-bank market continued to stay narrow and within the prescribed limit given by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Currency dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was quoted at 284 for selling and 281 for buying purposes for customers.

At the end of trading on Thursday, the currency closed at the same rates, according to data provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP).

In the inter-bank, [the rupee closed at 283.622 against the greenback.

The ongoing appreciation comes after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) ramped 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).

Apart from the central bank measures, the caretaker setup also announced taking administrative steps to tighten the screws around smuggling and hoarding of currency and as a result, countrywide raids were reported with scores of illegal currency exchanges being shut down and foreign currency worth millions confiscated.

The development comes at an apt time for Pakistan which is set to enter the next review of its Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in November.

“Given the challenging external account situation, we believe it is imperative for Pakistan to maintain its engagement with the IMF in the long term,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL), a brokerage house, in a report.

“We anticipate that Pakistan will complete the current SBA program and subsequently enter another program post the General Elections in the 1Q/2Q24,” it added.