KARACHI: The US dollar hit a new record high at Pakistan Rupee (PKR) 184.35 during intraday trading at interbank foreign exchange market on Tuesday.
The market opened after three days (two weekly holidays + bank holiday) and witnessed dollar demand.
The rupee fell so far 26 paisas against the dollar. The local unit ended at Rs184.09 to the dollar on April 01, 2022 in interbank foreign exchange market. It was the highest level of the dollar by closing of interbank market.
READ MORE: Dollar makes new top at Rs184.09
The rupee fell non-stop against the dollar for the last 14 trading sessions. The local currency recorded Rs178.51 at interbank closing on March 11, 2022 and since then the dollar’s Bull Run was unabated.
The recent fall may be attributed to significant fall to foreign exchange reserves. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have depleted by $2.88 billion in a week to $18.554 billion by week ended March 25, 2022, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were $21.44 billion by week ended March 18, 2022.
READ MORE: Rupee continues falling spree; dollar at Rs183.48
This is seventh consecutive week when the country’s foreign exchange reserves have witnessed consistent decline. The liquid foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan have declined by $5.167 billion since February 04, 2022, when the reserves were at $23.721 billion.
READ MORE: Rupee falls to new historic low to dollar at 182.64
The ballooning current account deficit escalated the dollar value. Pakistan’s current account deficit ballooned to $12 billion during first eight months (July – February) 2021/2022 against a surplus of $994 million in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
Although the current account deficit narrowed to $545 million in February 2022 as compared with the deficit of $2.53 billion in January 2022, scheduled external repayments are still a threat to balance of payment.
READ MORE: Rupee deteriorates record low to dollar at 182.34
