Dollar advances to fresh high at Rs179.44

Dollar advances to fresh high at Rs179.44

KARACHI: The US dollar recorded a fresh historic high against Pakistan Rupee (PKR) at Rs179.44 on Wednesday.

The rupee declined by 22 paisas to end at Rs179.44 against the dollar as compared with previous day’s closing of Rs179.22 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

It was third straight day decline in rupee value.

READ MORE: Dollar makes new record high at PKR 179.22

The major reasons for the rupee decline may be political unrest, volatile international oil prices and higher commodity import payments.

The rupee is under pressure as a no-confidence motion moved against the prime minister by the opposition parties had resulted negative sentiments in the market.

READ MORE: Dollar jumps to historic high at PKR 178.98

The dollar demand was also rising due to import of commodities related to the holy month of Ramzan.

Besides, the oil prices have seen continuous fluctuation since Russia-Ukraine war begun on February 24, 2022.

READ MORE: Dollar eases by 12 paisas to PKR in interbank

Pakistan is net importer of petroleum products and changes in the prices directly affects the oil import bill.

The import of petroleum products recorded over 100 per cent increase to $12.94 billion during first eight months (July – February) 2021/2022 as compared with Rs6.44 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.

READ MORE: Rupee ends flat to dollar, maintains all-time low level

Furthermore, the fall in foreign exchange reserves also put pressure on the rupee value. The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country slipped by $206 million to $22.669 billion by the week ended March 04, 2022 as against $22.875 billion a week ago.