KARACHI: US dollar continued to make gain for seventh straight session against the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) on Monday and reached PKR 223.66 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
The exchange rate recorded a decrease of 49 paisas in rupee value to end at PKR 223.66 to the dollar as compared with last Friday’s closing of PKR 223.17 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
The rupee witnessed the seventh consecutive day decline against the greenback.
READ MORE: Rupee plummets on mounting default risk; dollar advances to PKR 223.17
The latest depreciation in rupee was recorded as five-year Credit Default Swap (CDS) of the country reached to an alarming level of 79 per cent showing inability of the government to repay its debts.
Although last Saturday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar assured the foreign investors that Pakistan would manage to repay its obligations in-time.
However, latest investment data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) revealed the foreign direct investment plunged by 52 per cent in first four months of the current fiscal year.
READ MORE: Rupee devaluation continues; dollar reaches PKR 222.67
Although the current account deficit recorded contraction in the first four months of the current fiscal year it swelled when compared with the previous month.
Pakistan needs foreign inflows on urgent basis to avoid balance of payment crisis. The foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan fell sharply during past few months making it difficult for the government to fulfill its foreign repayment commitments.
READ MORE: Dollar climbs to PKR 222.41 amid foreign payment demand
Foreign exchange (forex) reserves of Pakistan were at $13.796 billion by week ended November 11, 2022 as compared with $13.721 billion a week ago i.e. November 04, 2022.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $13.432 billion.
READ MORE: Dollar end up to PKR 221.91 in interbank on November 15, 2022
The official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank nominally increased by $3 million to 7.96 billion by week ended November 11, 2022 as compared with $7.957 billion a week ago.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high at $20.146 billion by week ended August 27, 2021. Since then the official reserves of the SBP dropped by $12.185 billion.
