KARACHI: The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) continued recovery against the dollar for the fourth straight session on Wednesday owing to lower international oil prices and optimism prevailed over return of Ishaq Dar as the finance minister.
The local unit strengthened by PKR 7.59 against the dollar during the last four sessions. The exchange rate reached near to record low of PKR 239.71 on September 22, 2022 to the dollar but ended at PKR 232.12 on September 28, 2022.
READ MORE: PKR strengthens sharply to dollar during last three sessions
On Wednesday, the exchange rate witnessed a gain of PKR 1.79 to end at PKR 232.12 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of PKR 233.91 in interbank foreign exchange market.
Market analysts said that the nomination of Ishaq Dar had sent positive sentiments to the foreign exchange market.
Ishaq Dar on Wednesday took oath as federal minister. Previously, he was known to effectively control the exchange rate in the last tenure of PML (N) government.
READ MORE: Dollar tumbles to PKR as market welcomes Dar nomination
Meanwhile, the international oil prices are also crashed which helped the rupee to make gain.
It is worth mentioning that the rupee on last Friday recovered against the dollar after witnessed a consecutive 15-session fall.
During this period the local currency depreciated by PKR 21.10 against the dollar from the interbank closing on September 01, 2022 at PKR 218.60.
The local currency witnessed the historic low at PKR 239.94 to the dollar on July 28, 2022.
READ MORE: PKR ends 15-day losing streak; recovers against dollar
Currency experts said that the rupee was recovered because of contraction in current account deficit. Pakistan current account deficit recorded a contraction of 19 per cent during first two months (July – August) of the current fiscal year 2022/2023.
Further, the experts said that the recent measures taken by the SBP also helped the rupee to gain value.
However, the rupee failed to get support from the latest announcement of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) about the funds of Saudi Arabia.
The rupee has witnessed a continuous depreciation against the greenback even after the inflows received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
READ MORE: Rupee slumps for 15th straight session against dollar
The local currency recorded some recovery against the greenback after the IMF fund was transferred to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). However, the removal of sanction on import of luxury and non-essential items the rupee again started free fall.
The currency experts said that although the IMF inflows would help the further inflows under bilateral and multilateral sources. However, the devastation of floods has changed the economic environment scenario.
The torrential rains and flash floods have inflicted a loss of over $10 billion to Pakistan’s economy. The devastation will prompt the country to make imports in the coming days, especially for agriculture products.
The rupee also fell due to continuous depletion in foreign exchange reserves of the country.
