Pakistani rupee reaches all-time low against US dollar

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee continued to depreciate steeply against the United States (US) dollar in the interbank market, hitting a new all-time low of Rs287.90, ARY News reported

According to forex dealers, the rupee depreciated Rs2.86 against the US dollar to trade at 287.90 in the interbank market at 2:00 pm.

In the open market, the greenback was trading at Rs291.

A day earlier, the rupee remained under pressure against the US dollar, closing at 285.04 in the inter-bank market, a decline of Rs1.25 or 0.44%.

Experts say the decline in the value of the rupee can be attributed to economic challenges, political uncertainty, and depleting foreign exchange reserves.

According to experts, the market awaits the resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme, which has remained stalled since last year.

State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is likely to raise the interest rate by 2 per cent at the upcoming meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to unlock the stalled IMF loan program.

The staff-level agreement between the International Monetary Funds (IMF) and Pakistan was scheduled to take place on February 9.

On March 2, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised the monetary policy rate by 300 basis points to 20per cent.