KARACHI: The US dollar hit a record high of 194 against the Pakistan Rupee (PKR) during midday trading at interbank foreign exchange market on Monday.
The exchange rate witnessed a loss of Rs1.47 in the local currency value against the greenback. The dollar is being traded at Rs194.
READ MORE: Rupee falls for 8th straight day; dollar hits Rs192.53
Currency experts said that massive fall in foreign exchange reserves and high import payments were the major reasons behind rupee fall.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $177 million to $16.376 billion by week ended May 6, 2022. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were $16.553 billion by week ended April 30, 2022.
READ MORE: Rupee fall continues; dollar hits new high at Rs191.77
The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit record high at $27.228 billion by week ended August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have depleted by $10.852 billion.
The official reserves of the State Bank witnessed a decline of $190 million to $10.309 billion by week ended May 6, 2022 as compared with $10.499 billion a week ago.
READ MORE: Rupee crashes to record low at Rs190.02 against dollar
The SBP reserves reached to record high at $20.145 billion by August 27, 2021. The official reserves also fell by $9.836 billion after reaching record high. The official reserves of the SBP have been reduced to provide import payment cover for only 1.56 months.
The import bill of the country surged by 46.41 per cent to $65.49 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year as compared with $44.73 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
READ MORE: Rupee hits all-time low at Rs188.66 to dollar
Pakistan is net importer of petroleum products to meet its domestic demand. The country’s oil bill was $14.81 billion during the first nine months (July – March) 2021/2022 as compared with $7.55 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, showing a massive growth of 96 per cent. The oil bill is around 25 per cent of the total import bill of country.
