The Pakistani rupee closed unchanged against the US dollar in the open market on Monday, while the local currency snapped its upward momentum in the inter-bank market.

During the day, currency dealers Business Recorder reached out to said the rupee was being quoted at 284.5 for selling and 281.5 for buying purposes for customers.

However, at the end of trading, the currency closed at 284.75 for selling and 281.75 for buying purposes, unchanged from the Friday’s close, according to data provided by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP).

In the previous week, PKR gained 1.25 rupee for both buying and selling against USD, closing at 281.75 and 284.75 respectively.

In the inter-bank market, the rupee’s appreciation run against the US dollar finally came to a halt as the currency dipped a marginal 0.01% on Monday. As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee local unit at 283.90 after a decrease of Re0.03.

Despite a decline in foreign exchange reserves, the market remains confident amid an expected release of funds by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month, said experts.

As per a report, the IMF’s executive board will meet on January 11 to consider the final approval to disburse the next $700 million tranche from its current loan programme with Pakistan.

The current IMF programme of $3 billion is scheduled to end in the second week of April 2024, with around $1.8 billion remaining undisbursed. The Fund released $1.2 billion as the first tranche in July.

Pakistan has been facing an acute balance of payment crisis, with its foreign exchange reserves diminished, along with historically high inflation and an unprecedented currency devaluation.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decreased by $237 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $7.02 billion as of December 1.