Rupee regained lost glory and dollar drops to 278 in inter-bank
ISLAMABAD:
The rupee regained some of the lost glory on Friday as the value of the dollar dropped to 278 in inter-bank trading and 285 in open market operations.
The US dollar reversed its forward gear as finance minister Dar hinted at the signing of an agreement with the IMF next week.
Dar said the government has fulfilled the upfront conditions of the IMF and the staff-level agreement is likely to be signed any time next week.
This assurance of Ishaq Dar led to an increase in the value of the rupee in inter-bank and open market on Friday morning.
File photo of dollars and Pakistani rupees.
On Thursday, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) crashed in the inter-bank as the dollar-rupee exchange rate hit a record high level of 285 for the first time.
On Wednesday, dollar-rupee parity closed at 266 rupees in the inter-bank. In the open market, the exchange rate, however, surged to 271 rupees.
However, on Thursday morning the US dollar suddenly gained 18 rupees and set a new record of 285 rupees exchange rate. In the open market, the greenback was traded at 290 rupees.
Pakistan and the IMF could not sign the staff-level agreement despite holding talks for 10 days in Islamabad in February.
Meanwhile, despite the implementation of the mini-budget, still, the IMF is far from signing the staff-level agreement.
Consequently, a deepening economic uncertainty has triggered the depreciation of the rupee value against the US dollar and other major currencies.
In the last two days, the US dollar has edged up by 21 rupees _ Rs 6 on Wednesday and Rs 15 On Thursday.
General Secretary of the ECAP Zafar Paracha said that the IMF was asking Pakistan to trade the dollar at the rate it was being sold near the Afghan border.
“In simple words, the IMF wants Pakistan to follow a grey market rate rather than the interbank rate or the open market,” he added.
