ISLAMABAD: Pakistani rupee has further gained value against the US dollar and other currencies after the approval of $1 billion tranche by the IMF.
In the inter-bank the dollar-rupee exchange rate has dropped to below Rs175 on Friday (Feb 4), from a day’s earlier rate of Rs 176.41. The value of the US dollar has been on a losing streak after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the release of $1 billion to Pakistan.
In the open market, the US dollar has shed value of Rs2.50 and being traded at Rs 174.50 on Friday. The dollar-rupee exchange rate remained above Rs175 throughout the day on Friday (Feb 4), but few minutes before day’s closing the exchange rate fell to below 175 rupees.
On Friday, the State Bank of Pakistan announced one rupee incentive against one dollar for the foreign exchange companies, bringing the forex to Pakistan. This incentive of the SBP will also improve the value of rupee against the US dollar and other major currencies in the coming days.
According to experts, the value of dollar started declining earlier this week when the Senate approved the SBP amendment Bill to fulfill the last upfront condition of the IMF for the resumption of loan programme.
On February 3, it lost 89 paisas against the rupee in the inter bank market, according to the numbers shared by the State Bank of Pakistan.
In 2021, the rupee remained under pressure against the dollar for most of the time and lost more than 15% value against the greenback.
Experts said the resumption of IMF’s $6 billion loan program will further ease pressure on rupee in the inter-bank and open market.
Importantly, the IMF executive board approved $1 billion tranche for Pakistan in its meeting held on Feb 2, 2022 in Washington, thus resuming the stalled programme.
The foreign exchange reserves are also expected to improve further with the resumption of IMF assistance.
