KARACHI: The rupee ended 19 paisas down against the dollar on Monday due to the rising foreign currency demand for import payments, dealers said.

The rupee was recorded at Rs228.34 against the dollar from last Friday’s closing of Rs228.15 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The dealers said the rising dollar demand for import and corporate payments was putting pressure on the rupee value. Besides, scheduled foreign repayment by the country and a sharp decline in the foreign exchange reserves also escalated the demand for the greenback.

The official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to $4.34 billion by the week ended January 6, 2023. The SBP’s forex reserves fell $1.233 billion from the level of $5.576 billion a week ago on December 30, 2022.

The current level of the official forex reserves fell below one month’s import cover. The import bill of the country for December 2022 was recorded at $5.16 billion, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

The benchmark foreign exchange reserves of the central bank should be at a level to provide three months import cover.

The forex reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high of $20.146 billion by the week ended August 27, 2021. Since then, the forex reserves of the SBP dropped $16.803 billion.

The rupee fell to the all-time low level of Rs239.94 against the dollar on July 28, 2022.

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