The US dollar once again resumed its recovery trend against the Pakistani rupee and gained 65 paisas to reach Rs214 in interbank trading, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

The local currency was on its recovery path since IMF broke the deal with Pakistan. 

However, the US dollar in the afternoon interbank trading bounced back and gained Rs1.85 to reach Rs216.50 against the Pakistani rupee. 

American currency closed at Rs216.66 after an increase of Rs2.01.

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1561676124475867136

The last closing of the previous week was Rs214.65 which was 35 paisas less than Thursday’s closing which was Rs214.95.

Shares at PSX slide  

Shares at the Pakistan Stock Exchange opened the week in the red, with investor sentiment sliding after the country’s political chaos worsened over the weekend as an ATC case was registered against PTI Chairman Imran Khan for a speech he delivered on Saturday. Also, there are reports of the government’s plan to arrest him have been making rounds since yesterday.

The benchmark KSE-100 index was down 400 points, or 0.96 per cent, at 11am.

The benchmark KSE-100 index was down 443.91 points (-1.-33%) at closing time at 4:14pm. 

Raza Jafri, head of research at Intermarket Securities, said the rise in political temperature over the weekend was weighing down market sentiment.

“Investors are also cautious ahead of the monetary policy, set for later today. Valuations remain cheap but wait-and-see is prevailing particularly as the KSE-100 has already recovered sharply in the first two weeks of August.”

SBP Governor (A) Dr. Murtaza Syed during his visit to PSX said that recent extreme pressure on Pakistan’s FX reserves, currency, and the current account is temporary in nature and is being forcefully addressed and Pakistan is over financed during FY23.

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1560915617024458758 

On Friday, the local currency closed at Rs214.65 against the greenback in the interbank market after gaining 0.14%, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

Forex experts and currency dealers said that the local currency is expected to remain under pressure till IMF’s board meeting scheduled on August 29.

Pertinent to note that the rupee after emerging as the best-performing currency in the world in the first half of August compared to all other currencies on the Bloomberg terminal.

Reporter Ashraf Khan