KARACHI: The rupee depreciated 50 paisas against the dollar on Monday, owing to the demand for import payments, dealers said.

The exchange rate ended at Rs170.51 against the greenback from last Friday’s closing of Rs170.01 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The dealers said due to the first day of the week, the dollar demand was high for import payments.

The latest depreciation in the rupee value has been witnessed after the local currency recorded an all-time low of Rs175.27 on October 26, 2021.

Since then, the local currency was making recovery; following an announcement made by the Saudi government to support Pakistan in managing the balance of payments position.

The dealers said the large import bill was the major reason behind the rupee fall.

The import bill registered a growth of 65.15 per cent to $25.06 billion during July-October 2021, compared with $15.17 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year, the PBS reported.

Since Pakistan is a net importer of various commodities and other finished products, the international price hike would further escalate the demand for the dollar, which would also result in weakening the local currency.

The rupee remained under pressure since the start of the current fiscal year. The local currency fell Rs12.97, or 7.92 per cent, from June 30, 2021 closing of Rs157.54 to the closing of Rs170.51 on November 8, 2021.