Rupee down 21 paisas against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee witnessed a decline of 21 paisas against the dollar on Thursday, owing to foreign currency demand for import and corporate payments, dealers said.

The rupee ended at Rs228.14 against the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs227.93 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The dealers said the rupee remained under pressure due to mounting demand for import and corporate payments.

The local currency witnessed an all-time low of Rs239.94 on July 28, 2022. It was under severe pressure due to falling foreign exchange reserves and a stalled International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme.

The recent talks between the Pakistani authorities and the IMF ended without results. Further, unofficial restrictions on opening the letters of credit (LCs) also put pressure on the local currency.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) recently lifted the prior condition to open the LC by the banks for import proceeds.

The government imposed restrictions on opening the LCs in May 2022 to control the balance of payments and prevent outflows of the foreign currency.

Imports recorded a 32 per cent decline to $5.16 billion in December 2022, compared with $7.58 billion in the same month of the last year, according to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

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