KARACHI: The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) recovered sharply against the US dollar on Monday following meetings of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar with representatives of banks and exchange companies last week.
The exchange rate recorded a recovery of PKR 1.58 in rupee value to end at PKR 220.89 to the dollar from last Friday’s closing of PKR 222.47 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
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The finance minister on Saturday October 29, 2022 held meetings with representatives of exchange companies and bankers and discussed the exchange rate volatility.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has advised foreign exchange companies to ensure appropriate exchange rate for the betterment of the country.
The finance minister highlighting the economic situation of the country stated that the present government with its pragmatic policy decisions has not only arrested the decline but has also set the economy in the right direction.
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During the last week the rupee witnessed massive deterioration against the dollar after the PTI chief announced the protest rally.
PTI Chief Imran Khan was removed as prime minister through a vote of no confidence by the allied political parties in April this year. Imran Khan claimed that his government was toppled by a conspiracy.
Prior to the announcement of the long march, the rupee witnessed recovery against the greenback due to removal of Pakistan name from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Further, the sentiments were also improved due to commitment of Asian Development Bank (ADB) to finance the country. The ADB approved a financing of $1.5 billion to the country. Currency experts said that the approval of loan program by the ADB helped the rupee to make gain.
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Interestingly, the amount of $1.5 billion was received last night by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). However, the fund transfer also failed to support the local currency.
The rupee had also seen support by contraction in current account deficit during the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
Pakistan’s current account deficit has recorded a decline of 37 per cent to $2.21 billion during first quarter (July – September) of fiscal year 2022/2023, according to official data released last week.
READ MORE: Rupee recovers to PKR 219.73 against dollar
The current account deficit of the country was $3.53 billion in the same quarter of the last fiscal year.
Contraction in current account deficit can be attributed to significant fall in trade deficit. The trade deficit also contracted by 21.32 per cent to $9.22 billion during first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared with the deficit of $11.72 billion in the same quarter of the last fiscal year.
