Dollar and Other Currency Rates in Pakistan Today, 23 Jan. 2026

Karachi, 23 January 2026 – The Pakistani rupee firmed in Friday’s session, with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fixing the USD/PKR mark-to-market currency rate at Rs 279.8457, 5 paisa below last close and the lowest print of 2026 so far.

Priority Currencies – Quick Take

1. US Dollar (USD) – 279.85 (spot)

The 5-paisa retreat keeps the greenback glued to the 279–280 handle, well inside the 279–282 band that has framed trade since October. One-week forwards sit at 280.10, implying a wafer-thin 0.09 % carry. Exporters continue to sell above 280.20, while oil importers nibble below 279.80.

“Liquidity is ample; the currency rate is drifting on positional tidy-ups rather than fresh macro cues,” said a senior treasury dealer.

2. British Pound (GBP) – 375.75 (spot)

Sterling grabs headline space at 375.75 after UK wage data cooled BoE rate-cut bets; one-year forward is 389.41, implying 3.6 % annualised rupee softness. Textile exporters to Manchester are locking in six-month receivables above 377, keeping forward points well bid.

3. Saudi Riyal (SAR) – 74.64

SAR edges 1 paisa lower to 74.64; 12-month forward is 76.86, an annualised 3.0 %—still the tightest band among major remittance corridors. Exchange booths see steady demand from Umrah travellers locking in ahead of the January rush.

4. UAE Dirham (AED) – 76.21

AED softens 1 paisa to 76.21; six-month forward is 77.41, implying 3.1 % annualised rupee softness. UAE salary inflows remain anchored to formal banking, keeping the pair quietly stable.

5. Qatari Riyal (QAR) – 76.58

QAR slips 1 paisa to 76.58; 12-month forward is 79.46, a 4.2 % annualised gap—virtually identical to SAR and AED, underscoring uniform Gulf-peg calm.

6. Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD) – 915.06

KWD is flat at 915.06; twelve-month forwards at 957.50 equate to 4.6 % annualised PKR weakness—marginally wider than GCC peers owing to thinner dinar liquidity.

7. Australian Dollar (AUD) – 187.32

The “Aussie” slips to 187.32 as iron-ore dips below $100/t. One-year forward is 193.88, implying 3.5 % annualised rupee deprecation—almost flat against the SAR curve, confirming commodity-driven moves.

8. Canadian Dollar (CAD) – 201.48

The “Loonie” retreats to 201.48 as WTI crude eases to $74/bbl. Twelve-month forwards at 212.13 still pencil out to 5.3 % annualised rupee softness, but importers of prairie pulses are said to have covered February shipments early, capping further CAD losses.

Other Major Currencies

Euro opens at 327.20, down 0.2 % on the week after softer German CPI data; one-year forward is 343.53, translating into 5.0 % annualised rupee weakness. Japanese yen remains the cheapest major at 1.76 per unit, but forwards price 7.0 % annualised PKR decline—the steepest among G-10 pairs. Swiss franc is 350.23; Singapore dollar 217.65; Swedish krona 30.33; Norwegian krone 27.76; Danish krone 43.56; New Zealand dollar 161.56; Chinese yuan 40.20; Turkish lira 6.47; Russian ruble 3.59; Indian rupee 3.08; Bangladeshi taka 2.29—all inside well-worn ranges and implying no event-risk premium ahead of the IMF’s first-quarter 2026 review.

Market Context & Outlook

The uniformly slender forward premiums—barely 5–6 % annualised even for the least-liquid pairs—tell currency desks that both importers and exporters believe the State Bank has enough cover to defend the rupee through the winter remittance season. Reserves have risen $16 million week-on-week to $16.09 billion, while the real effective exchange rate (REER) slipped to 98.2 in November, a level the IMF considers “competitive but not undervalued.” Unless oil spikes above $90 or political noise disrupts the Fund programme, traders expect the USD currency rate to remain hand-cuffed to the 278–282 corridor for the opening quarter of 2026, dragging the rest of the currency mosaic along in its slipstream.