KARACHI: The US dollar on Friday recorded a closing rate of Rs174 in interbank foreign exchange rate.
The Pak Rupee ended with a depreciation of four paisas to the dollar from last day’s closing of Rs173.96 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that the dollar demand remained high owing to widening of current account deficit and trade deficit. Further, the massive reduction in official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported a day earlier.
The official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank recorded a decline of $1.646 billion to $17.492 billion by the week ended October 15, 2021 as compared with $19.138 billion by the week ended October 08, 2021.
The SBP attributed the decline in foreign exchange reserves to external debt repayment, which included repayment of $1 billion against Pakistan International Sukuk.
The current account deficit ballooned to $3.4 billion during July – September 2021 as compared with a surplus of $865 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, according to the SBP.
The rupee is facing a continuous fall since the start of the current fiscal year. The local currency recorded a depreciation of Rs16.47 or 10.45 per cent against the dollar when compared the value of Rs157.54 to dollar on June 30, 2021 with Rs174.00 as on October 22, 2021.
