A day after share prices at Pakistan Stock Exchange skyrocketed, it’s the turn of the Pakistani rupee to gain massively against the US dollar in the interbank market on Tuesday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

As the market opened following the loan agreement Pakistan had signed with the IMF, the local currency shot up by 10.55 rupees against the greenback or 4.51 percent.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the Pakistani rupee gained Rs10.55 and ended the day at Rs275.44.

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1676194349296816128

During the last week, the Pakistani rupee recorded back-to-back gains against the the US dollar to settle at 285.99.

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1673657058824970242

Open Market

The situation was not so different in the open market also where the US dollar suffered another five-rupee loss against the Pakistani rupee which was currently being traded at Rs280, down from Rs285.

The greenback is down by 10 rupees in the open market in two days.

The euro also depreciated by Rs8 in the open market and was now being traded at Rs305, British pounds was down by Rs13 to Rs355, Emirati dirham also registered a loss of Rs6.30 to 72.70 and Saudi riyal down by Rs3.70 to Rs71.70.

In a related development, the Government of Pakistan and sent a Letter of Intent (LoI) to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) containing nine major assurances following the staff-level agreement on a nine-month $3 billion stand-by arrangement (SBA).

Separately, Moody’s Investors Service on Monday said Pakistan’s new deal with the IMF will support macroeconomic stability. Moody’s also said that in the longer term, Pakistan needs to implement reforms including revenue-raising measures, whereas, in the near term the economy will remain subdued.

On Friday, the IMF and Pakistan had reached a new $3 billion nine-month SBA, after the country failed to complete yet another IMF Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme of $6.5 billion, which ended unsuccessfully on June 30, 2023. However, the new SBA is being seen as a major positive for the battered economy that faced an incessant delay in revival of the IMF programme.

Reporter Ashraf Khan