KARACHI: Pakistani Rupee (PKR) plummeted to PKR 282 against the dollar on Thursday during intraday trading in interbank foreign exchange market.
The local currency lost around PKR 2.82 so far against the dollar and being traded at PKR 282. The interbank foreign exchange market ended at PKR 279.12 to the dollar.
READ MORE: Dollar jumps to PKR 279.12 in interbank foreign exchange market
Currency experts said that delay in staff level agreement between Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) created uncertainty in the market.
Furthermore, the rising dollar demand for commodity imports related to holy month of Ramazan also pressured the local currency.
It is important to note that the local currency recorded the all-time low of PKR 285.09 against the dollar on March 02, 2023.
READ MORE: Rupee shows resilience against dollar to end at PKR 277.87
Previously, the local currency witnessed appreciation against the greenback due to inflows from China.
The Finance Minister, Ishaq Dar in a tweet last week stated that ICBC has approved the rollover of $1.3 billion facility, which will be disbursed in three instalments.
The inflows of dollars from Chinese loan will eventually help the local currency to stabilize and strengthen against dollar.
The local currency recorded a massive decline following a rating agency downgraded the country’s currency rating.
The experts said that the foreign exchange reserves of the country were not at the level to support the local currency.
READ MORE: Rupee inches up against dollar to end at PKR 277.92
Total foreign exchange reserves of the country improved by $542 million to $9.268 billion by the week ended February 24, 2023. The total foreign exchange reserves of the country were $8.726 billion a week ago i.e. February 17, 2023.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $17.96 billion.
The official foreign exchange reserves of the central bank also increased by $556 million to $3.814 billion by the week ended February 24, 2023 as compared with $3.258 billion a week ago.
READ MORE: Pakistani rupee witnesses highly volatile week, uncertainty to continue
The central bank attributed the improvement in the foreign exchange reserves to inflows of $700 million from China.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high at $20.146 billion by the week ended August 27, 2021. Since then the official reserves of the SBP dropped by $16.332 billion.
