Pakistani rupee plunges against USD in interbank

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee plunged against the US dollar in the interbank market due to a delay in the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an economic bailout.

According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the local currency fell by Rs4.60 against the greenback in the interbank to close at 266.11.

Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for todayhttps://t.co/yixJmUnrgF pic.twitter.com/PWg8EoDAgM

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) March 1, 2023

The foreign experts attributed the rupee’s depreciation following the deal in IMF deal due to lenders new demands.

New conditions

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Pakistan to implement demands before reaching a staff-level agreement for the revival $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) stalled for months.

Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are expected to make progress on the revival of the loan programme as their virtual talks for staff-level agreement would be held on March 2.

However, sources told ARY News that the Fund has asked the incumbent government to implement demands before reaching a staff-level agreement. Pakistan was facing a ‘tense situation’ like 1998 to revive the stalled programme, they claimed.

Sources further claimed that Islamabad was continuously receiving new Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), while further demands were being tabled by amending the clauses of agreement.

The IMF has tabled four more conditions before reaching a staff level agreement, sources claimed, adding that the government was forced to implement surcharge of Rs3.82 on electricity permanently instead of four months.