KARACHI: The US dollar maintained the record high level of Rs181.73 on Thursday as Pakistan Rupee (PKR) ended unchanged in interbank foreign exchange market.
The greenback hit the record high level of Rs181.73 on March 22, 2022. The rupee ended at this level despite import pressure owing to the market opened after a day of holiday.
READ MORE: Rupee’s losing streak continues as dollar tops Rs181.73
Currency experts said that high import payments and widening of current account deficit kept the pressure on rupee value. Besides, the political uncertainty also added the pressure on exchange rate.
Furthermore, the dollar demand was also rising due to import of commodities related to the holy month of Ramzan. The local forex market is also uncertain due to volatile oil prices in the international markets.
READ MORE: Rupee collapses to dollar at record low Rs181.25
Further, the external payments, foreign exchange reserves declined and it pushed the rupee to fall sharply.
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 continues to make historic high; hits Rs180.57
The country spent $11.69 billion for the import of petroleum products during the first seven months (July – February) 2021/2022 as compared with $5.64 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, showing an increase of 107 per cent.
READ MORE: Dollar climbs new peak PKR 180.07 at interbank closing
