After continuing on the declining path, once again Pakistani rupee moved down in the inter-bank market by shedding one rupee and eight paise.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) report, on Wednesday (25 August) the closing rate of the US dollar as Rs was 166.28 which shows that the Pakistani rupee lost Rs 1.08 against the greenback. This was recorded as the highest increase for the greenback in a single day in the current week.
On Tuesday (24 August), The exchange rate closed at Rs 165.20 in the inter-bank foreign exchange market. Previously on 31 August 2020, the exchange rate was recorded at Rs 166.24 against the greenback in the inter-bank foreign exchange.
May 2021 marks the date for the dollar’s rapid increase towards its peak of Rs168 which was obtained in August 2020 arraigned due to hot money invested in domestic bonds which was recalled by the original sources as an impact of the pandemic in the middle of March 2020.
The situation faced by Pakistani rupees is different than before because this time the foreign exchange reserves are at an all-time high. The increase in import bills played an important part. However, the current account deficit has got many fearing as the forecast suggests great growth of dollars in the coming years which will lead to high demand and low supply.
CEO of Alpha Beta Core, Mr. Khurram Schehzad said that heavy payments were made against imported machinery which increased the demand for the greenback.
There are sources who believe that the grey channel is also one of the reasons for the increase in the demand for the greenback. They said that the current situation in Afghanistan has put pressure on the currency which leads to a short supply of the US dollar.
According to analysts, the international oil prices are also a factor that depreciated the local currency.
On Wednesday, the government has raised Rs 633.8 billion through the auction of market treasury bills while remove yield was dropped by one basis point for 90 days and five basis points for half a year, and bids were rejected for a year.
It picked Rs 409 billion against bids of Rs 1.5tr for a half year at 7.44%, which records a drop of 5 basis points. It raised Rs121.3 billion for 3-month papers at 7.23% other than raising Rs 86.3 billion as uncompetitive bids.
