KARACHI: The Pak Rupee gained Rs1.44 against dollar on Thursday owing to lower demand for import payments, dealers said.
The rupee ended Rs160.17 to the dollar from previous day’s closing of Rs161.61 in interbank foreign exchange market.
The currency dealers said that the rupee was gaining over lower oil prices and reduced non-oil imports.
Currency experts said that the statement of Dr. Hafeez Shaikh, Special Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, about further reducing the oil prices for next month had also improved the market sentiments.
They said that local currency would gain in coming trading days due to fall in international oil prices and improved external accounts.
They said that that improved foreign direct investment and shrinking current account deficit helped the local currency to make gain.
The inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Pakistan has witnessed sharp growth of 137 percent during first nine months (July – March) 2019-2020.
The FDI increased to $2.15 billion during first nine months of current fiscal year as compared with $905 million in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
Current account deficit (CAD) has contracted by 73 percent during first nine months (July – March) 2019/2020 due to significant decline in import bill.
The current account deficit fell to $2.77 billion during first nine months of current fiscal year as compared with $10.28 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
