Dollar breaches Rs177 to make new intraday record high

Dollar breaches Rs177 to make new intraday record high

KARACHI: The US dollar has breached the level of Rs177 to make a new record high during intraday trading on Friday. So far the rupee lost 88 paisas against the dollar as the foreign currency is being traded at Rs177.30 in the interbank foreign exchange market. The rupee closed at Rs176.42 to the dollar a day earlier in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The Pak Rupee is under severe pressure due to a surge in import bills and a widening of trade deficit.

Official data revealed that Pakistan’s trade deficit ballooned by 112 per cent to $20.59 billion during the first five months (July – October) of the current fiscal year 2021/2022.

The trade deficit was at $9.72 billion in the same months of the last fiscal year, revealed by the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Pakistan’s import bill surged by 69.17 per cent to $32.934 billion during July – November 2021/2022 as compared with $19.468 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.

The exports of the country also exhibited by 26.68 per cent to $12.344 billion during the period under review as compared with $9.744 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

The falling official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are also another reason for the rupee deterioration. According to the data released by the SBP, its official reserves were declined by $244 million to $16.01 billion by the week ended November 26, 2021, as compared with $16.254 billion a week ago.

Pakistan’s import cover has been reduced to two months with a reduction in official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to $16.01 billion.