Rupee hits record low of 300 against US dollar

KARACHI: The US dollar ascended to a record high against the Pakistani rupee on Thursday as it traded at the historic low of Rs300.37 during morning trade in the interbank market, ARY News reported.

According to the Forex Association of Pakistan, the greenback was changing hands in the interbank market at Rs300.4 at 11:50 am.

In the open market, the USD was being traded at Rs315, they said.

Yesterday, the dollar closed at Rs299.64, according to daily data released by the State Bank of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Stock Exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSE-100 index gained over 500 points during morning trade on Thursday.

The KSE-100 index reached 47,943.50 points, up 524.87 points at 11:00am or 1.1 per cent from yesterday’s close of 47,418.63 points.

According to economic experts the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) policy to keep the interest rate at 23pc was “not helpful as people find it more lucrative to invest in the foreign [currency] market.

Pakistan is currently being governed by a caretaker government that is tasked with steering the country through to a national election that should, in theory, take place by November, while grappling with searing political tension as well as historically high inflation and interest rates.