KARACHI: The Pakistan Rupee (PKR) continued to slide against the US dollar for eighth straight day and reached to historic low at Rs192.53 on Friday.
The exchange rate witnessed a decline of 76 paisas in rupee value to reach Rs192.53, making fresh low against the US dollar in interbank foreign exchange market. The exchange rate was at Rs191.77 a day earlier at closing in interbank foreign exchange market.
READ MORE: Rupee fall continues; dollar hits new high at Rs191.77
Currency experts said that the falling foreign exchange reserves were main reason behind the free-fall in rupee value.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $177 million to $16.376 billion by week ended May 6, 2022. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were $16.553 billion by week ended April 30, 2022.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit record high at $27.228 billion by week ended August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have depleted by $10.852 billion.
READ MORE: Rupee crashes to record low at Rs190.02 against dollar
The official reserves of the State Bank witnessed a decline of $190 million to $10.309 billion by week ended May 6, 2022 as compared with $10.499 billion a week ago.
The SBP reserves reached to record high at $20.145 billion by August 27, 2021. The official reserves also fell by $9.836 billion after reaching record high. The official reserves of the SBP have been reduced to provide import payment cover for only 1.56 months.
READ MORE: Rupee hits all-time low at Rs188.66 to dollar
The import bill of the country surged by 46.41 per cent to $65.49 billion during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year as compared with $44.73 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.
Pakistan is net importer of petroleum products to meet its domestic demand. The country’s oil bill was $14.81 billion during the first nine months (July – March) 2021/2022 as compared with $7.55 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year, showing a massive growth of 96 per cent. The oil bill is around 25 per cent of the total import bill of country.
