ISLAMABAD: After a depreciation of 8 paisa the previous day Pakistani Rupee on Thursday remained stable with a gain of 01 paisa against the American dollar in the interbank trading to settle at Rs278.30 against the previous day’s closing of Rs278.31.
Meanwhile, according to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling price of the greenback against the local unit in the open market stood at Rs277.25 and Rs280 respectively.
Unlike the greenback, the price of the Euro went up by 15 paisa against the local currency to settle at Rs 298.11 against the previous day’s closing of Rs 297.96, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Like Euro, the Japanese Yen increased by 01 paisa to close at Rs1.78, while the British pound witnessed an increase of 48 paisa to close at Rs348.51 against the previous day’s closing of Rs348.99.
The price of the Emirates Dirham and Saudi Riyal remained constant at Rs75.77 and Rs74.20 respectively.
Pakistani Rupee Against US Dollar
The local currency witnessed both appreciation and fall, against the American dollar during the last couple of months with recent continuous improvement except in the last few days. From September, till the middle of October 2023, the local unit witnessed appreciation for a record 28 consecutive sessions against the US dollar, 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 local currency mostly recorded 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, 2024. In addition, on 29th February, China also rolled over $2b to Pakistan which was due in March 2024. As a result, the Pakistani currency improved by over Rs 7 in the interbank during the last five to six weeks.
In another recent development, Pakistan received $1.1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the final tranche of the $3 billion Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), on Tuesday (30 April). Pakistan would be now looking to get a larger and longer Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of the IMF programme to further strengthen its economic stature. However, the nation must be ready for further increases in prices in the country as the new IMF agreement is likely to be coupled with further taxation.
