KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee continued to lose value against the dollar on Monday, owing to narrowing foreign exchange reserves due to reduced inflows, dealers said.
The exchange rate shed 25 pasias to reach Rs224.40 from Friday’s closing of Rs224.65 against the dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that falling foreign exchange reserves of the country remain a major challenge for keeping stability in the value of the local unit.
Besides, the reduced remittance from overseas Pakistanis have furthered the pressure on the local currency. The government has also failed to secure any major funding from friendly countries and multilateral lending institutions to provide the much needed confidence to the local market, they added.
Pakistan’s exports are falling at a time when the country is in a dire need of the greenback to buffer its foreign exchange reserves and ensure timely external payments.
According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the exports fell to $2.37 billion in November, compared with $2.9 billion in the same month of the last year.
The workers remittances have also declined 15.7 per cent to reach $2.21 billion in October, compared with $2.62 billion in the same month of the last year.
On a monthly basis, the remittances witnessed a decline of 9 per cent, compared with $2.43 billion received during September.
Pakistan’s domestic debt crossed the Rs50 trillion mark by the end of October 2022. The domestic debt of the country surged to Rs50.15 trillion by October 2022, compared with Rs40.2 trillion reported by the end of the same month last year, showing a significant increase of Rs10 trillion in debts in one year.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan fell $134 million to reach $7.82 billion during the week ended November 18, compared with $7.95 billion on November 11.
According to the central bank, the decrease in reserves came due to external debt repayment.
The overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including the net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13.64 billion, while the net reserves held by banks amounted to $5.81 billion.
The net foreign direct investment (FDI) in Pakistan slumped 62 per cent to $95 million in October 2022, compared with $247.3 million in the same month last year. However, the net FDI was up 13 per cent, compared with $84 million recorded in September 2022.
During the first four months of fiscal year 2023, the net FDI dropped 52 per cent year-on-year to $348 million, compared with $726 million during the same period of last fiscal year.
The local currency remained under pressure since the start of the current fiscal year. The rupee lost Rs19.80 or 9.66 per cent from Rs204.85 to dollar on June 30, 2022 to the current level of Rs224.65.
At the open market, the buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs231.5 and Rs234 at 3:45pm PST.
