KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee declined 76 paisas to make an all-time low of Rs192.53 on Friday amid uncertainty on the domestic political and economic fronts.
The local unit fell 76 paisas to close at Rs192.53 to the dollar from Thursday’s closing of Rs191.77 in the interbank foreign exchange market. The rupee recorded the previous historic low of Rs191.77 on May 12, 2022.
The rupee witnessed decline for the seventh consecutive session on the back of continuous deterioration in the country’s forex reserves, higher import bill and uncertainty regarding the government’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of the Extended Facility Fund (EFF) programme, the dealers said.
The latest depreciation in the local unit as the country’s forex reserves dwindled to a 22-month low. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves dropped to their lowest level since December 2019 at $16.3 billion in the week ended May 6.
The country’s reserves declined by $178 million to $16.376 billion. The reserves held by the central bank decreased another $190 million to $10.31 billion.
They said that the delay in the finalisation of the loan programmes from the friendly countries is also putting pressure on the local currency. The rising import bill, low growth in the exports and political uncertainty have further dented the value of the rupee.
The widening current account deficit is another vital factor in the escalation of the dollar value. Pakistan’s trade deficit showed a sharp growth to $3.64 billion in March 2022, registering an increase of 12 per cent over the same month of the last fiscal.
The total trade deficit escalated to $35.52 billion in the first nine months (July-March) period of the current fiscal year against $20.8 billion in the same period last fiscal year.
The local currency remained under pressure since the start of the current fiscal year. The rupee lost Rs34.99 or 22.21 per cent from Rs157.54 to dollar on June 30, 2021 to the current level of Rs192.53.
At the open market, the buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs191.1 and Rs193.1 at 4:30pm PST.