KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee gained for the 10th consecutive session against the dollar on Thursday after Ishaq Dar vowed to bring the dollar below the Rs200 mark, dealers said.

The exchange rate witnessed a gain of Rs2.01 to reach Rs221.93 against the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs223.94 at the interbank exchange market.

Analysts said the traders opted to sell the greenback over a likely increase in the value of the rupee in the near-term after the finance minister said that the government is trying to bring the dollar below the Rs200 mark.

Additionally, the trade deficit in the first quarter of fiscal year 2023 narrowed 21.4 per cent to clock-in at $9.2 billion, against $11.72 billion recorded in the same period of the last fiscal year, they added.

During the quarter, imports declined 12.7 per cent, to $16.3 billion, as against $18.72 billion in the same period last year. However, exports were up 1.8 per cent to $7.12 billion, compared with $6.99 billion in the same period last year.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday has also announced it would provide aid of around $2.5 billion for relief operations in the wake of devastating floods that have caused catastrophic damage in Pakistan.

An ease in the current account deficit was also witnessed during the current fiscal year. Pakistan’s current account deficit shrank 19 per cent during the first two months of the fiscal year 2023 due to a lower import bill and increase in exports.

Cumulatively, the country recorded a current account deficit amounting to $1.92 billion in the first two months of ongoing fiscal year, compared with $2.37 billion in the same period of last fiscal year, depicting a decline of $456 million, a report by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

The decline in the current account deficit is due to an 11 per cent surge in exports and around 2 per cent contraction in the import bill, the central bank said.

On the flip side, the foreign exchange reserves of the country have been on a continuous decline. The foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell $341 million, clocking in at an alarming level of $8 billion during the week ended September 23, compared with $8.34 billion on September 16.

The total liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the country stood at $13.76 billion. The net foreign reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $5.76 billion.

The local currency remained under pressure since the start of the current fiscal year. The rupee lost Rs17.08 or 8.33 per cent from Rs204.85 to dollar on June 30, 2022 to the current level of Rs221.93.

At the open market, the buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs223 and Rs225.5 at 3:45pm PST.