Rupee ends flat against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee ended flat against the dollar on Friday, amid foreign pledges to support the Pakistan economy, dealers said.

The rupee ended with a decline of one paisa to Rs228.15 against the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs228.14 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The dealers said that the local currency had shown resilience against the greenback, owing to the pledges made by the UAE and oil facilities by Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, the UAE pledged $3 billion for Pakistan. Similarly, Saudi Arabia signed a $1 billion oil facility with Pakistan.

However, the dealers said the sharp decline in the foreign exchange reserves remained a big concern for the local currency.

Official foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell to only $4.34 billion by the week ended January 6, 2023.

The SBP’s forex reserves fell $1.233 billion from the level of $5.576 billion a week ago on December 30, 2022.

The current level of the official foreign exchange reserves fell below one month’s import cover. The import bill of the country for December 2022 was recorded at $5.16 billion, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

The benchmark foreign exchange reserves of the central bank should be at a level to provide three months import cover.

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high of $20.146 billion by the week ended August 27, 2021. Since then, the official forex reserves of the SBP dropped $16.803 billion.