KARACHI: The US dollar recorded a new record high of Rs178 at intraday trading on Thursday but retreated and closed at Rs177.61, which is also an all-time high by closing at interbank foreign exchange market.
Currency experts said that during the intraday trading the dollar touched Rs178, which was never seen in the past. However, the Pak Rupee (PKR) recovered some losses during the day but closed at yet another historic low of Rs177.61 in interbank foreign exchange market.
The experts said that burgeoning import bill kept pressure on dollar demand during the day. They said that the external inflows were not sufficient to support the local unit.
Last week the Saudi Fund deposited an amount of $3 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to support Pakistan, to manage balance of payment.
The experts said that high international prices and growing domestic demand escalated the import bill.
The official data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed the import bill of the country climbed up by 69.17 per cent to $33 billion during first five months (July – November) 2021/2022 as compared with $19.47 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.