ISLAMABAD: The US dollar is set to slip below 200 rupees in the inter-bank and open market in the coming few days as overseas Pakistanis are sending foreign exchange to their families in connection with Eid-ul-Azha festivities. Every time, overseas Pakistanis send more than $700 million to their family members ahead of the Eid festivities with the aim to financially support their near and dear ones to celebrate the event with traditional zest.
In Pakistan, Eidul Azha will be celebrated on 10th of July 2022 and millions of people will sacrifice animals according to Islamic traditions to seek blessings of Allah Almighty. These days the expatriates are sending money to their relatives, friends and this factor has further eroded the value of US dollar in the inter-bank and open market on Thursday.
On Thursday, the dollar-rupee exchange rate further plummeted to around 203 rupees in the open market and 204 in the inter-bank. This is the first time that the value of dollar in the open market has dropped more than the rate being used in the inter-bank market mainly because of arrival of Eid-related remittances and end of the ongoing trend of dollarization in the country as the government is close to clinch deal with the IMF, which will lead to the disbursement of two tranches around mid-July. In the inter-bank market, the dollar-rupee parity is still moving around 204 rupees. Also, on June 24, Pakistan has received $2.3 billion as loan from a consortium of Chinese banks.
A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that Pakistan will receive around $2 billion from the IMF and not $1 billion in July 2022 as the government has received MEFP from the IMF, which will be followed by signing of the agreement in a couple of days and disbursement of loan within next two weeks.
After hitting the record high level of Rs212 on June 22, the US dollar is steadily losing its value daily because of the factors quoted above and by June 30, the greenback has lost value by around 8 rupees. Â
