Rupee ends flat amid external payments

KARACHI: The rupee ended flat against the dollar on Monday, amid high demand for the foreign currency for external payments, dealers said.

The rupee ended at Rs176.68 against the dollar from last Friday’s closing of Rs176.67 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The dealers said the dollar demand remained high during the day, as the market was opened after two weekly holidays. However, the banks have supplied sufficient foreign currency in the market, which helped the rupee maintain the current level.

The dealers said the banks had received inflows in the shape of export receipts and workers’ remittances.

However, the rising oil prices in the international markets and a decline in foreign exchange reserves of the country remained key challenges for the rupee stability.

Last week, the international oil prices gained around 5 per cent to end at around $82/barrel. The surge in the international oil prices directly impact the oil import bill of Pakistan, as the country is the net importer of oil products.

The oil import bill of the country sharply increased 112 per cent to $8.38 billion during the first five months of the current fiscal year, compared with $3.94 billion in the corresponding months of the last fiscal year.

Similarly, the foreign exchange reserves of the country fell $255 million to $24.019 billion by the week ended December 31, 2021, compared with $24.274 billion a week ago.

The official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell $170 million to $17.686 billion by the week ended December 31, 2021, compared with $17.856 billion a week ago.

Meanwhile, in the open market, the buying and selling of the dollars was recorded at Rs178.20/Rs179.30 at 3:00pm PST.

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