Karachi/Kuwait City – The Kuwaiti Dinar recovered modestly today, trading at 911.88 Pakistani Rupee in the open market. That’s up from 910.36 PKR a week ago but still leaves the rate noticeably lower than the brief spike to 919.69 PKR we saw at the end of January.
The overall pattern remains choppy: well below the 2025 summer high of 926.79 PKR and after those earlier mid-year increases from 919.67 PKR (June 10) → 922.06 PKR (June 13) → 925.45 PKR (June 18).
Oil prices are once again the biggest factor at play. Brent crude has been meandering in the $63–65 per barrel zone lately, with occasional small bounces but no decisive breakout. Kuwait, as an OPEC+ heavyweight producing roughly 2.7 million barrels daily, continues to feel the drag on export revenues whenever prices refuse to climb sustainably. The basket peg and reserves north of $40 billion provide stability, but they don’t generate upward momentum on their own in this environment.
The Pakistani Rupee is still benefiting from a healthy reserve position. Total liquid foreign reserves remain comfortably above $23 billion, State Bank holdings hover near $14.55 billion, and remittances are running strong (still projected to comfortably exceed $36 billion for the fiscal year). Ongoing IMF support through the $7 billion program helps too. Inflation has stayed in the 6.1% area in recent months, giving the SBP reasonable room to manage external stability despite the usual $26–27 billion trade deficit.
Real-world impact
- Remittances: 1,000 KWD sent home from Kuwait now converts to 911,880 PKR — about 1,520 PKR more than last week, and roughly 10,550 PKR higher than the 901.33 PKR level back in late November 2024. That extra amount continues to make a meaningful difference for families handling school fees, medical expenses, rent and groceries.
- Imports: The slightly firmer Dinar nudges up the cost of Kuwaiti crude and petroleum products a little, though it’s still far from the expensive levels we saw mid-2025.
- Exporters: Pakistani textiles, rice and similar items lose a modest amount of price competitiveness in Kuwait when the PKR strengthens against the Dinar.
Quick currency profiles
- KWD (1961) – World’s most valuable currency unit, basket-pegged and powered almost entirely by oil income; symbol KD or د.ك.
- PKR (1947) – Managed float overseen by the State Bank, symbol ₨, steadily supported by reserve growth and IMF-backed reforms.
Outlook Brent looks set to trade in a relatively narrow band for the foreseeable future — most forecasts still point to averages below $65 through much of 2026. If Pakistan’s reserves keep trending higher, the KWD to PKR rate is likely to remain soft or move sideways with occasional small swings like the one we saw today. Remittance senders and petroleum importers will want to keep watching crude inventories, OPEC+ comments and the weekly SBP reserve releases for the next directional clue.