Recurring hike in Dollar before Eid-ul-Fitr

KARACHI: Pakistani rupee continuously depreciates within this week against surging US dollar in the open market after a hike of the local record low of Rs123 to greenback in intra-day trade in inter-bank market on Thursday before Eid-ul-Fitr.

This depreciation is marked the lowest at the closing hours, when commercial banks usually buy and sell large volumes of foreign currencies, mostly US dollars, on behalf of commercial importers.

General Secretary of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) Zafar Paracha explained, Rupee lost 1.6 per cent of its value in the open market against the Wednesday’s closing rate of Rs122.

ALSO READ: Rupee depreciates- US dollar hits extraordinary record of Rs122 in interbank market

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), rupee weakened by 4.13 per cent when it was Rs120.39 to the US dollar on Monday.

Pakistan Forex Association’s president Malik Bostan said, “Traders believe the rupee may soon drop to Rs125 to the US dollar.”

This is the third time rupee depreciated over the past week.

Cumulatively, rupee dropped in value by as much as 14.11 per cent to settle at Rs120.39 in the inter-bank market against Rs105.50 in mid-December last year.

The central bank particularized the downward trend in the rupee value, which imitates continuous burden on the country’s foreign currency reserves, which decreased to a grave level at $10.06 billion on June 8, making the two months imports even insufficient.