Rupee Starts Losing Against US Dollar After 8 Successive Days of Gains

The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) depreciated against the US Dollar (USD) and posted losses in the interbank market today. It lost three paisas against the greenback after hitting an intra-day high of Rs. 174.15 against the USD during today’s open market session.

It depreciated by 0.02 percent against the USD and closed at Rs. 174.50 today after gaining one paisa and closing at 174.47 in the interbank market on Monday, 7 February.

The rupee closed in the red against the dollar for the first time in nine interbank wrap-ups. Today’s losses come as the local exchange unit continues to struggle against various factors threatening to impede fiscal progress. While the remittances, through the Roshan Digital Accounts (RDAs), for January have offered encouragement, last week’s inflows of $1.05 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and $1 billion Sukuk proceeds are yet to offer anything of the sort.

Discussing the rupee’s near-term outlook earlier in the day, the former Treasury Head of Chase Manhattan Bank, Asad Rizvi, noted on Twitter, “Despite Sukuk & IMF inflow, PKR is struggling to take a breather. REMIT/EXP have inched up. The RDA deposit of $ 3.4bn is encouraging Higher Oil prices is surly [sic] hurting. But what about our AGRI POLICY? Why don’t we adapt to changing needs & stop blaming int’l market prices?”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">INTER BANK<br><br>Despite Sukuk &amp; IMF inflow <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PKR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PKR</a> is struggling to take a breather. REMIT/EXP have inched up. RDA DEPO of $ 3.4bn is encouraging. Higher Oil prices is surly hurting. But what about our AGRI POLICY? Why don’t we adopt to changing needs &amp; stop blaming int’l market prices?</p>&mdash; Asad Rizvi 🇵🇰 (@asadcmka) <a href="https://twitter.com/asadcmka/status/1490881444042125312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 8, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The PKR reversed its good run against the other major currencies and reported losses in the interbank currency market today. It lost 50 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), 57 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), 16 paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP), and held out against both the Saudi Riyal (SAR) and the UAE Dirham (AED).