KARACHI: Pakistani Rupee (PKR) weakened by 16 paisas against the dollar to end at PKR 269.44 on Monday due to massive decline in foreign exchange reserves.
The exchange rate recorded a decline of 16 paisas in rupee vale to end at PKR 269.44 to the dollar from last Friday’s closing of PKR 269.28 in the interbank foreign exchange market.
READ MORE: Rupee makes gain to dollar amid sharp fall in forex reserves
Currency experts said that the local unit depreciated because the official foreign exchange reserves of the country fell below $3 billion making it equal to about only two weeks import payment.
Pakistan’s central bank official foreign exchange reserves have depleted below $3 billion, falling about nine years low. Previously, the official foreign exchange reserves were seen at $2.84 billion on February 07, 2014.
READ MORE: Rupee regains sharply; dollar ends at PKR 270.51 in interbank
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that its official reserves declined by $169 million to $2.917 billion by week ended February 03, 2022 compared with $3.086 billion a week ago or January 27, 2023.
The present level of the official reserves have fallen to provide import cover for only 18 days. The import bill of the country for the month of January 2023 was recorded at $4.856 billion, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
READ MORE: Rupee makes sharp recovery of PKR 2.95 against dollar on Feb 08 interbank closing
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high at $20.146 billion by week ended August 27, 2021. Since then the official reserves of the SBP dropped by $17.229 billion.
The foreign exchange reserves of the country recorded a decline of $202 million to $8.54 billion by week ended February 03, 2023 when compared with $8.742 billion by week ended January 27, 2023.
READ MORE: Rupee ends near historic low; dollar jumps to PKR 276.28 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 $18.688 billion.
The currency experts said that the rupee was also gaining on hopes that next tranche under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) would be released after talks with International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, the latest reports suggested that the country would further wait for the inflows as IMF had not finalized the ninth review of the program.
