Rupee ends firmer against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee ended firmer at Rs178.04 against the dollar on Monday, amid higher foreign currency demand for import and corporate payments, dealers said.

The rupee ended at Rs178.04, which is the same closing of December 17, 2021, in the interbank foreign exchange market. The present exchange rate is the lowest level of the rupee against the dollar.

The dealers said the rupee recovered around 14 paisas earlier in the day due to measures taken by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) regarding documentation of the foreign currency transactions.

In the latest instructions issued on December 19, 2021, the central bank has set a limit of $10,000/day/individual and $100,000/individual/year.

Further, to strengthen the documentation, the central bank also restricted transactions with the requirement of certain documents, including CNIC.

The dealers said the dollar demand remained higher during the day, as the market opened after two weekly holidays. During the remaining days of December 2021, the demand for the foreign currency would be high.

The foreign entities operating in Pakistan send their profits and dividends to their parent companies abroad by the quarter-end, the dealers said.

Interestingly, the SBP on December 14, 2021 announced the monetary policy and hiked the key policy rate by 100 basis points to 9.75 per cent. However, it failed to support the local currency.

The rupee remained under pressure since the start of the current fiscal year. It fell Rs20.50, or 13.01 per cent, from June 30, 2021 closing of Rs157.54 to the closing of Rs178.04 on December 20, 2021.

In the open market, buying and selling of the dollars was recorded at Rs179/Rs180.75 at 3:40pm PST.

Also Read

Rupee hits record low of Rs178.04 against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee fell to a record low of Rs178.04 against the...