Dollar reverses gains against rupee following IMF agreement

KARACHI: The US dollar’s rally against the rupee was reversed on Wednesday after the government announced it has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after late-night talks, ARY NEWS reported.

According to forex dealers, the US dollar went down by Rs0.25 in the interbank against the rupee and traded at Rs211.23. In the open market, the greenback traded between Rs211 to Rs214.

Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a deal for the release of a US$1 billion tranche after the latter gave its nod to the budgetary adjustments for fiscal year 2022-23.

According to officials of the finance ministry, the Fund has agreed to the budgetary estimates set for the next fiscal year and the economic policies of the country.

“The IMF will soon release a handout confirming the staff level agreement between the two sides,” they said.

The rupee was under pressure over a delay in an agreement with the IMF and crossed the Rs211 mark yesterday.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also rejected rumours claiming that its foreign exchange reserves had “dried up”, clarifying that the country’s banks had run out of US dollars.

Taking to Twitter, the central bank noted that rumours were circulating that its reserves have fallen to an alarmingly low level along with the suspension of import payments.

However, the SBP clarified that its foreign reserves stood at $8.99 billion. “These do not include gold reserves, and are fully usable for all purposes,” it added.

The central bank further said that it had not stopped import payments and that commercial banks had sufficient dollar liquidity to execute those payments.