KARACHI: The US dollar appreciated against the rupee on Monday to reach Rs167.23 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
The Pak Rupee (PKR) ended at Rs167.23 to the dollar from last Friday’s closing of Rs166.91 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that the dollar demand remained high during the day as the market opened after two weekly holidays.
Besides, the widening of trade deficit in August 2021 also deteriorated the market sentiments.
The trade deficit ballooned to a monthly high by over 144 percent in August. The trade deficit during August 2021 was recorded at $4.23 billion as compared with the deficit of $1.73 billion in the same month of the last year, according to trade data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The experts said that the rupee would remain under pressure due to higher dollar demand for import payment in coming days. However, they said that the inflows in the shape of export receipts and workers’ remittances may support the local unit.