KARACHI: The rupee weakened on Friday by a rupee against the greenback. The interbank trading was at Rs 97.50 while the gap between the interbank and open market rate remained at one rupee.
Those exporters who had sold dollars on a forward basis to banks at Rs 96 were caught off guard. There was very little activity in the morning on the open market as the Finance Minister’s views had a disruptive impact. State Bank of Pakistan had been a major beneficiary of forward purchases of dollars so far.
The IMF is expected to press for weakening of rupee and not lowering the SBP policy rate in its deliberation with the country''s authorities at the end of the month. Market expects the PKR parity to touch Rs 98 by the next week ie in line with Finance Ministry''s expectations.
