KARACHI: The Pakistan Rupee (PKR) has lost Rs4.37 to the dollar during last three straight days on Wednesday.
The rupee fell by Rs1.48 to the dollar on Wednesday to close at Rs185.92 as compared with previous day’s closing of Rs184.44 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
READ MORE: Dollar climbs up to Rs184.44 at interbank closing
The rupee lost around Rs4.37 against the dollar during past three trading sessions after making a sharp recovery to Rs181.55 on April 16, 2022. It is pertinent to mention that the local currency made this recovery after touching all-time low at Rs188.18 on April 07, 2022.
The fresh wave of rupee depreciation has been attributed to import and external debt payments.
The recent measures of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), including raising the key policy rate by 2.5 per cent, have failed to support the local currency.
Previously, the rupee made significant recovery for seven consecutive trading sessions after the central bank announced a sharp increase in key policy rate.
READ MORE: Dollar ends PKR recovery spree; closes at Rs182.54
The SBP on April 07, 2022 announced 2.5 per cent increase in interest rate to enhance the key policy rate to 12.25 per cent from 9.75 per cent. The rupee was at all-time low Rs188.18 to the dollar on the day of monetary policy announcement.
However, following the announcement the rupee rallied for seven straight days and recovered Rs6.63 against the dollar.
The appreciation in dollar value may be attributed to the further depletion in foreign exchange reserves of the county.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves hit a 22-month low after falling for nine consecutive weeks to $17.03 billion.
READ MORE: Dollar plummets against PKR for seven consecutive days
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the foreign exchange reserves of the country fell by $449 million to $17.028 billion by week ended April 08, 2022 as compared with $17.477 billion a week ago.
The foreign exchange reserves were at $17.971 billion by week ended June 26, 2020.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have declined by $10.23 billion in the past seven months owing to extreme pressure of dollar demand for import payments and external repayment of government debt.
READ MORE: Dollar retreats for 6th straight day; falls to Rs181.58
