Rupee weakens by 98 paisas on import payment demand

Rupee weakens by 98 paisas on import payment demand

KARACHI: The Pak Rupee weakened by 98 paisas against dollar on Monday owing to higher demand for import and corporate payments, dealers said.

The rupee closed at Rs164.08 to the dollar from last Friday’s close of Rs163.10 in interbank foreign exchange market.

Currency experts said that the deterioration in rupee value was due to higher demand for import and corporate payments. They said that rupee was remained under pressure due to settlement of import payments after long holidays.

Further, they said that after ease in lockdown the demand was increasing and importers started purchasing dollars for future buying.

The currency experts said that fall in exports and remittances also put pressure on the local currency.

Overseas Pakistani workers sent home $1.790 billion in April, compared with $1.894 billion in previous month.

Pakistan received $18.781 billion in remittances in July-April FY2020, compared with $17.801 billion in the same period last year.

However, the experts said that the local currency recovered on the back of improved economic indicators.