Pakistani rupee’s bull-run against US dollar continues in interbank

The Pakistani rupee continued its upward trajectory as the local unit appreciated by 93 paisas against the US dollar in the interbank trading on Friday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the US dollar’s drubbing was going on as the American currency ended at Rs282.69, down by 93 paisas in the interbank today.

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1710259484105597144

Yesterday, the rupee appreciated by Rs1.06 against the greenback and ended the day at Rs283.62.

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1709898231113757000

The local unit’s upward march completed one month of its rally against the US dollar yesterday as the rupee has gained Rs24.50 since September 5 in the interbank.

The local currency finished the month of September marked by second-best performance since 2014 in percentage terms, gaining 6.19% against the US dollar and earning the title of the best-performing currency in the world for the month.

The appreciation of the PKR could be attributed to the military-backed strict crackdown against dollar smugglers and currency hoarders.

As part of the administrative measures, the Customs Department has tightened surveillance of routine airlines, jets, and chartered flights at all airports and started using specially trained sniffer dogs to prevent currency smuggling, which has frozen gray market activities.

Experts say that due to the strict monitoring of Afghan transit trade and an anti-trafficking campaign, currency smugglers have gone into hiding, while hoarders of foreign currencies have started selling their currencies in the market, which are cheaper than the dollar a month ago. The continuation of the unrestrained flight of the dollar has stopped.

Despite the improved supply of dollars, the demand in the country is extremely limited, which has put the dollar on the back foot.

Reporter Ashraf Khan