KARACHI: Pakistani Rupee (PKR) has declined to 228.14 against the dollar on Thursday in interbank foreign exchange market.
The exchange recorded a decline of 21 paisas in rupee value to end PKR 228.14 against the dollar from previous day’s closing of PKR 227.93 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
READ MORE: Dollar rises to PKR 227.93 in interbank foreign exchange market
It was 29th straight session decline in rupee value against the dollar. The local currency was recorded at PKR 223.68 on December 01, 2022. The rupee has not made recovery for a single since then and fell to PKR 228.14 till to date against the dollar in interbank foreign exchange market.
The local currency witnessed an all-time low of PKR 239.94 on July 28, 2022.
The fall in rupee value may be attributed to delay in IMF talks which prevented the tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) besides inflows from other sources.
READ MORE: Rupee falls for 27th session to PKR 227.88 against dollar
Currency experts said that falling foreign exchange reserves and higher import payment demands kept the rupee under pressure on the first day of the week.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) recently lifted the prior condition for opening the Letter of Credit (LC) by the banks for import proceeds.
The government imposed restrictions on opening of the LCs in May 2022 to control balance of payment and prevent outflow of the foreign currency.
Imports recorded 32 per cent decline to $5.16 billion in the month of December 2022 when compared with $7.58 billion in the same month of the last year, according to data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
READ MORE: PKR continues falling journey to dollar in interbank foreign exchange market
Besides, sharp depletion in foreign exchange reserves and disruption in loan program under International Monetary Fund (IMF) also caused rupee devaluation.
Pakistan’s total foreign exchange reserves continued to deplete and recorded another fall of $284 million to reach at $11.42 billion by week ended December 30, 2022. The foreign exchange reserves of the country were $11.707 billion a week ago or December 23, 2022.
READ MORE: Pakistani rupee slips by two paisas against dollar in interbank
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 $15.806 billion.
