KARACHI: Pakistani rupee (PKR) on Tuesday crashed at Rs232.93 to the US dollar at closing of interbank foreign exchange market.
The exchange rate recorded a loss of Rs3.05 in rupee value to end at Rs232.93 as compared with last day’s closing of Rs229.88 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
READ MORE: Dollar hits new high Rs229.86 on political crisis
Currency dealers said that political instability and fiscal weakness putting pressure on exchange rate.
The rupee recorded a decline of Rs28.08 or 13.75 per cent during first 26 days of the current fiscal year.
The fiscal year 2022/2023 initiated at Rs204.85 to the dollar and now at Rs232.93 till July 26, 2022.
The dealers said that the continuous decline in rupee value may be attributed to the fall in foreign exchange reserves.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country have further declined.
READ MORE: Dollar hits new high at Rs228.37 at interbank closing
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have declined by $368 million to $15.242 billion by week ended July 15, 2022. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were $15.61 billion a week ago i.e. July 07, 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 $11.986 billion.
READ MORE: Rupee ends to new low at Rs226.81 against dollar in interbank
The official reserves of the State Bank also depleted by $388 billion to $9.329 billion by week ended July 15, 2022 as compared with $9.717 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 declined by $10.817 billion.
The SBP on July 07, 2022 announced a hike of 125 basis points in policy rate to bring it to 15 per cent. The purpose of increasing the interest rate was to curb the demand and support the rupee value. However, the effort of the SBP failed to support the rupee value.
READ MORE: Rupee hits fresh low Rs224.92 to dollar at interbank closing
