KARACHI: Pakistani Rupee (PKR) fell to a historic low of Rs203.86 against the dollar at closing of interbank foreign exchange market on Monday.
The exchange rate witnessed a decline of Rs1.51 in rupee value to end at Rs203.86 against the dollar from last Friday’s closing of Rs202.35 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
The local currency previously witnessed the lowest level of Rs202.83 to the dollar on June 07, 2022.
Currency experts said that massive decline in foreign exchange reserves and high import payment demand kept the local unit under pressure.
READ MORE: Rupee falls to Rs202.35 against dollar ahead budget announcement
They said that the market remained volatile during the day. This is causing discomfort in the market. Shaking confidence of importers, exporter and foreign investor, according to the expert.
The official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have fallen by $497 million to $9.226 billion by week ended June 03, 2022 as compared with $9.723 billion a week ago i.e. May 27, 2022.
Previously, the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank were seen at $9.233 billion on December 6, 2019.
READ MORE: Rupee gains against dollar, ends at Rs200.77 in interbank
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high at $20.146 billion by the week ended August 27, 2021. Since touching the peak the central bank’s foreign exchange witnessed a continuous decline. The official reserves of the SBP fell around $10.92 billion by the week ended June 03, 2022 from touching the peak.
Overall the foreign exchange reserves of the country declined by $595 million to $15.176 billion by the week ended June 03, 2022 as compared with $15.771 billion a week ago.
They said that usually import payments are high in the last month of a fiscal year, especially for oil imports.
READ MORE: Rupee recovers to Rs201.52 to dollar in volatile trading
It is pertinent to mention that the government had twice increased the prices of petroleum products since May 26, 2022 in order to satisfy the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of next tranche of about $1 billion.
Although the since announcement of raising petroleum prices the rupee witnessed a recovery. However, the falling foreign exchange reserves of the central bank once again put pressure on the local unit.
The government on May 26, 2022 decided partially withdraw the subsidy to get the next tranche of the IMF, the rupee sharply made gains against the dollar. The local unit made a recovery of Rs4.42 against the dollar during the past five sessions.
READ MORE: Dollar hits record high at Rs202.83 in interbank
The rupee remained under pressure against the greenback during the current fiscal year. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has taken various measures to support balance of payment and the local currency. However, the measures ended in a failure to help the rupee to recover losses.
The SBP on May 23, 2022 announced a sharp increase in policy rate by 150 basis points to 13.75 per cent from 12.25 per cent.
Recently the government announced a complete ban on imports to support balance of payment and help the rupee to stabilize. However, these measures appeared in failure as the exchange rate yet again deteriorated today massively.
