Rupee's downfall against US dollar continues

KARACHI: The rupee’s slide after weeks of recovery against US dollar continued on Friday with greenback selling at Rs230 in open market, ARY NEWS reported.

According to forex dealers, the US dollar rose by Rs1.25 in the interbank to trade at Rs220.66 while banks are selling it at Rs221.20. In open market, the dollar traded between Rs228 and Rs230.

Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for todayhttps://t.co/5VPjQDvFv6 pic.twitter.com/F9FZU5C2xQ

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) August 26, 2022

The rupee began a declining trend during the ongoing week despite assurances of IMF for release of US$1.17 billion tranche and investments of upto US$4 billion confirmed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

In an alarming trend, the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank fell by $87 million during the week ended on August 19, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

Sharing a break-up of the foreign reserves position, the central bank said that the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $7.81 billion, down by $87 million compared to $7.89 on August 19.

“During the week ended on August 19, 2022, SBP’s reserves decreased by $87 million to $7,809.9 million,” the SBP said in a statement.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.52 billion, said the SBP on Thursday. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $5.71 billion.

The SBP cited the decline in reserves due to “external debt and other payments”.