KARACHI: The rupee fell for the third straight day against the dollar on Thursday, owing to a surge in the international oil prices.

The exchange rate ended at Rs176.49 to the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs176.22 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The local unit recorded a decline of 57 paisas or 0.32 per cent during the last three trading sessions.

The dealers said that the market had seen high dollar demand due to the gradual increase in the international oil prices. The benchmark Brent oil recorded $89.17 per barrel at the closing of the market on Wednesday.

Pakistan is the net importer of petroleum products to meet domestic energy demands. The country’s oil bill sharply increased by 113.39 per cent to $10.18 billion during the first half (July – December) 2021/22, as compared with $4.77 billion in the corresponding half of the last fiscal year.

The dealers said that the latest escalation in dollar demand due to the hiked international oil prices, offset the measures taken by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) regarding restrictions on realising export receipts.

The central bank on January 5, 2022 directed the exporters to materialise their export receipts within 120 days instead of the previous 150 days.

The local currency remained under pressure since the start of the current fiscal year due to higher external payments. The rupee fell by 18.95 or 12.03 per cent from Rs157.54 to the dollar on June 30, 2021 to Rs176.49 on January 20, 2022.

The rupee hit an all-time low at Rs178.24 on December 29, 2021.

In the open market, the buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs176.90/Rs178.10 at 3:35pm PST.

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