KARACHI: The US dollar breached the level of Rs178 on Friday due to mounting demand for the foreign currency for import payments.
The Pak Rupee (PKR) ended at Rs178.04 to the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs177.98 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that dollar demand for import and corporate payments remained high during the day. They said that dollar demand for import and corporate payments remained high due to the closing of the year.
READ MORE: Dollar maintains record high level at Rs177.98
They said that the measures taken by the State Bank through tightening of monetary policy has failed to support the rupee.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on December 14, 2021 announced a monetary statement and increased the key policy rate by 100 basis points to 9.75 per cent. The SBP increased the policy rate by 250 basis points in less than a month to support the local currency by reducing the demand.
READ MORE: Rupee falls to new record low despite policy rate hike
The dealers said that there was no letup in import payment. The import bill of the country surged by 69.17 per cent to $33 billion during the first five months (July – November) 2021/2022 as compared with $19.47 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
