Category: Money & Banking

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee sharply gained against dollar by Rs2.36 on Tuesday owing to massive decline in international oil prices.

The rupee ended Rs161.13 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs163.49 in interbank foreign exchange market.

Currency experts said that positive sentiments prevailed in the market owing to significant decline in international oil prices which would help reduction in Pakistan’s oil import bill.

They said that Pakistan is net importer of international crude oil and finished petroleum products.

Besides they said that the rupee continued gain against dollar as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) last week cut policy rate by 200 basis points to nine percent.

The central bank reduced the policy rate third time in last one month considering significant adverse effect of coronavirus on the economy,

Meanwhile last week the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a day earlier approved the disbursement of $1.386 billion under the Rapid Financing Instrument to address the economic impact of the Covid-19 shock.

The currency dealers said that the rupee may witness further appreciation in coming days due to falling international oil prices and reduction in non-oil imports.

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee gained nine paisas against dollar on Monday as positive sentiments prevailed in the market after cut in monetary policy rate and approval of IMF loan to Pakistan.

The rupee ended Rs163.49 to the dollar from last Friday’s closing of Rs163.58 in interbank foreign exchange market.

The rupee appreciation was continued from the last week as positive news was reported for Pakistan economy.

Currency dealers said that the rupee continued gain against dollar as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) last week cut policy rate by 200 basis points to nine percent.

The central bank reduced the policy rate third time in last one month considering significant adverse effect of coronavirus on the economy,

Meanwhile last week the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) a day earlier approved the disbursement of $1.386 billion under the Rapid Financing Instrument to address the economic impact of the Covid-19 shock.

The currency dealers said that the rupee may witness further appreciation in coming days due to falling international oil prices and reduction in non-oil imports.

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee gained 10 paisas against dollar on Thursday owing to inflows of export receipts and measures to facilitate home remittances.

The rupee ended Rs166.88 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs166.98 in interbank foreign exchange market.

Currency dealers said that the rupee appreciated on inflows of export receipts during the day.

Further, incentive scheme of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for promotion of home remittances also improved market sentiments.

A day earlier, the SBP expanded incentive scheme for exchange companies for promoting home remittances through formal channels.

The SBP previously on December 06, 2019 introduced the incentive scheme on which exchange companies were allowed market expenses reimbursement of Re. 1 per each incremental US dollar mobilized over 15 percent growth.

The SBP in this regard decided that with immediate effect the existing incentive scheme for marketing of home remittances i.e. Re 1 against US Dollar 01 of remittance amount beyond 15 percent growth over last year may now be based on tiered growth i.e. Rs. 0.50 on 5 percent growth, Rs. 0.75 on 10 percent growth and Rs. 1.00 on 15 percent growth.

Through another circular issued to authorized dealers in foreign exchange and microfinance banks, the SBP said that it has been decided with immediate effect that the prevailing rate of TT charges may be enhanced from SAR 10/- to SAR 20/- for transactions between USD 100-200.

The SBP further said that the existing Incentive scheme for marketing of home remittances i.e. PKR 01 against USD 01 of remittance amount beyond 15 percent growth over last year may now be based on tiered growth i.e. Rs. 0.50 on 5 percent growth, Rs. 0.75 on 10 percent growth and Rs. 1.00 on 15 percent growth.

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee extended losses against dollar on Wednesday owing to persistent demand for import payment, dealers said.

The rupee ended at Rs166.98 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs166.95 in interbank foreign exchange market.

The currency dealers said that the rupee was remained under pressure due to higher demand of the foreign currency for commodity payment, mainly related to holy month of Ramazan.

Currency experts said that the rupee may make gain in coming days with expected disbursement by the IMF.

They said that the IMF disbursement would help the country to improve foreign exchange reserves.

The experts said that the rupee likely to gain further in future owing to lower import payment demand after decline in international oil prices.

The import bill of the country has declined by 21 percent in March 2020 over the previous month owing to lockdown to contain coronavirus pandemic.

The import bill was at $3.3 billion in March 2020 as compared with $4.185 billion in February 2020, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Friday.

Similarly, the pandemic also adversely affected the country’s exports. The exports fell by 15.56 percent to $1.8 billion in March 2020 as compared with $2.14 billion in February 2020.

The total import bill during July – March 2019/2020 fell by 14.42 percent to $38.81 billion as compared with $40.68 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

However, the exports registered increase of 2.23 percent during first nine months of current fiscal year to $17.45 billion as compared with $17 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.

The trade deficit during first nine months contracted by 26.45 percent to $17.36 billion as compared with the deficit of $23.61 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.