PKR gains 17 paisa against USD

KARACHI: The value of the Pakistani rupee (PKR) increased by 17 paisa against the US dollar (USD), closing at Rs 278.30 in interbank trading on Thursday.

The purchasing and selling values of the USD in the open market were, Rs 277.35 and Rs 280.10 respectively, according to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP).

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that the price of the Euro dropped by 64 paisa to close at Rs 301.67 as compared to Rs 302.31 on the previous day.

The British Pound witnessed a decline of Rs1.03, closing at Rs 353.85 compared to the previous day’s closing of Rs 354.88. The Japanese Yen also saw a nominal decrease of 01 paisa to close at Rs 1.77.
Similarly, the Saudi Riyal closed at Rs 74.20 with a drop of 04 paisa while the United Arab Emirates Dirham witnessed 05 paisa decline to close at Rs 75.76.

Earlier on May 15, the Ministry of Finance told the National Assembly (NA) that the value of the PKR has strengthened by 2.9 percent against the USD in the current financial year (2023-24).

To a query put up in the National Assembly, the ministry submitted a written reply, that the Pakistani rupee was under pressure for the past two years due to a weak external account position.

“A current account deficit of $17.5 billion in the fiscal year 2022 was recorded which decreased by $2.2 billion in the fiscal year 2023, the written reply read.

The National Assembly was informed that the Ministry of Finance took steps to control dollar smuggling, stockpiling, and hawala transactions