ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani Rupee continued to appreciate against the US dollar for the last 10 to 11 working days as on Tuesday the local unit gained 10 paisa further against the US dollar in the interbank trading to settle at Rs277.83 against the previous day’s closing of Rs277.93.
Meanwhile, according to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling price of the greenback in the open market stood at Rs278.2 and Rs281.1 respectively.
Like the greenback, the value of the Euro against the local unit also went down by Rs 1.33 to settle at Rs298.42 against Rs299.75, the previous day, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
However, like the previous day, the Japanese Yen remained constant at Rs1.83, while the British Pound recorded a decrease of Rs 1.98 in the exchange rate and was traded at Rs348.76 against the last day price of Rs350.74.
The price of the Emirates Dirham and the Saudi Riyal went down by 03 paisa each to settle at Rs 75.65 and Rs 74.07 respectively.
Pakistani Rupee Against US Dollar
The local unit oscillated both ways against the US Dollar during the last couple of months with recent continued improvement. From September, till the middle of October 2023, the local currency observed appreciation for a record 28 consecutive sessions against the greenback, followed by a continues fall for 17th consecutive sessions from October till the middle of November 2023.
However at the end of December 2023, and then in January 2024, the Pakistani Rupee mostly enjoyed appreciation against the US dollar, thanks to the inflow from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) in the form of Rs700m followed by a $2b roll over from the UAE on January 20. In addition, on 29th February, China also rolled over $2b to Pakistan which was due in March 2024. As a result, the Pakistani Rupee improved by over Rs 7 in the interbank during the last five to six weeks.
In another major development On 20th March (Wednesday) Pakistan and the IMF reached a staff-level agreement over the final review of the $3 billion Standby-By Agreement, adding fresh air for boosting the local currency and the country’s economy. However, the nation must be ready for further price hikes and inflation in the country as the new IMF agreement is likely to be conditioned with further taxation.
