Dollar continues to make historic high; hits Rs180.57

Dollar continues to make historic high; hits Rs180.57

KARACHI: The US dollar remained unabated against the Pakistan Rupee (PKR) on Friday as the foreign currency made five-day streak of making historic high to reach at Rs180.57.

The rupee declined by 50 paisas to end at Rs180.57 to the dollar from previous day’s close of Rs180.07.

The dollar for the last five trading sessions making a new high against the local currency.

READ MORE: Dollar climbs new peak PKR 180.07 at interbank closing

Currency experts said that the rupee was under pressure due to political uncertainty, external payment demand and volatile international oil prices.

A no-confidence motion moved against the prime minister by the opposition parties had resulted in negative sentiments in the market.

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

READ MORE: Dollar advances to fresh high at Rs179.44

The local currency market is also uncertain due to volatile oil prices in the international markets. The oil prices have seen continuous fluctuation since the Russia-Ukraine war began on February 24, 2022.

Pakistan is a 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 the first eight months (July – February) 2021/2022 as compared with Rs6.44 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.

READ MORE: Dollar makes new record high at PKR 179.22

The dealers said that the decline in foreign exchange reserves was also another reason behind rupee depreciation.

The foreign exchange reserves of the country fell by $386 million to $22.283 billion by the week ended March 11, 2022 as against $22.669 billion a week ago. The official reserves of the State Bank fell by $381 million to $15.831 billion by the week ended March 11, 2022 as compared with $16.212 billion a week ago.

READ MORE: Dollar jumps to historic high at PKR 178.98