ISLAMABAD: The minimal but continued appreciation of the Pakistani Rupee against the US dollar is still on the way for the last 9 to 10 working days as on Monday the local currency gained one paisa further against the greenback in the interbank trading and settled at Rs277.93 against Rs277.94 on Friday.
Meanwhile, according to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling price of the greenback against the local currency in the open market settled at Rs278.1 and Rs281 respectively.
Unlike the US dollar, the price of the Euro went up by 20 paisa to settle at Rs299.75 against the previous day’s figure of Rs299.55, 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 observed a fall of 12 paisa against the local unit and traded at Rs350.74 compared to Rs350.86 on Friday.
The price of the Emirates Dirham observed no change and remained constant at Rs75.68 while that of the Saudi Riyal went down by 01 paisa to close at Rs 74.10.
Pakistani Rupee Against US Dollar
The local currency swung both ways against the US Dollar during the last couple of months with a recent continued upward trend. From September, till the middle of October 2023, the local rupee observed appreciation for a record 28 consecutive sessions against the greenback, followed by a continuous decline 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 improvement 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 more than Rs 6 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 in the country as the new IMF agreement is likely to be conditioned with further taxation.
