Rupee continues to shed value

The greenback rose to historic new levels against the rupee in early morning trading today.

By Staff Reporter

KARACHI: The US dollar’s upward march continued on Tuesday as it rose to PKR 212 against the local currency during early morning trading in the interbank market.

According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the rupee depreciated by over PKR 2 to reach an all-time low of PKR 212 against the dollar from Monday’s close of PKR 209.96.

Federal Revenue and Finance Minister Miftah Ismail hoped that the stalled International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) would be revived within a day or two.

According to financial data and analytics portal the rupee has incurred a colossal loss of PKR 6.4 during five consecutive sessions last week.

Pakistan signed a 39-month, USD 6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July 2019. But the program stalled when the previous government reneged on its commitments and announced fuel and energy subsidies.

There are reports that United States has agreed to help Pakistan negotiate a deal with the IMF.

According to SBP, Pakistan’s reserves have fallen by another USD 234 million to close just below USD 15 billion in all. The central bank’s share in these reserves is just under USD 9 billion.