Rupee slightly up against dollar

KARACHI: The Pakistan rupee recorded a slight gain on Tuesday on improved dollar supply in the market, dealers said.

The local currency gained 5 paisas to end at Rs176.63 against the last day’s closing of Rs176.68 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The dealers said the local rupee maintained its level, as the banks received inflows in the shape of export receipts and workers’ remittances.

The government on Monday requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reschedule the sixth review for the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF), delaying the process to receive the much-needed funds to support the local currency.

The rising oil prices in the international markets and a decline in the 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/Rs179.20 at 3:50pm PST.

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