KARACHI: The gold reached an all-time high of Rs136,000/tola on Thursday as the Pakistani rupee plunged to a new historic low of Rs191.77 to the dollar.
Gold 24kt gained Rs300/tola and Rs257/10grammes in the local market to hit Rs136,000/tola and Rs116,598/10grammes, respectively.
The yellow metal recorded the previous high of Rs135,700/tola the previous day, as the reducing forex reserves, soaring trade deficit and delay in the loan disbursement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) pushed the local currency to record low.
Silver gained Rs60/tola and Rs51.44/10grammes in the local market to Rs1,560/tola and Rs1,337.44/10grammes, respectively, while the international Silver prices recorded a decline of 76 cents to reach $21.04 per ounce on Thursday.
The rupee took another dive in the interbank market as the picture of an economic stability gets more blurred amid stalled talks with the IMF for the revival of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and higher commodity prices in the international market.
The latest decline in the rupee is its sixth consecutive loss against the dollar on the back of bleak economic conditions where the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) reserves recorded a decline of $59 million to $10.5 billion during the week ending April 30. The reserves held by commercial banks fell to $6.0 billion.
The total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $16.5 billion, compared with $16.6 billion in the previous week.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $115 million during the week ending April 30, on the back of increasing external debt payments and higher current account deficit.
The gold rates in Pakistan are around Rs1,000 over cost compared to the rate in the Dubai market.