Dollar hits triple century against Rupee
The Pakistani rupee registered losses against the US dollar during the trading, depreciating 0.61% on Tuesday.
At around 11:35am, the rupee was hovering at 291.75, a decrease of Rs2, in the inter-bank market.
During the previous week, the rupee saw depreciation of 0.52%, closing at 288.49 against the US dollar.
The currency fell in four out of the five sessions, as effects of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme ended to officially make way for economic fundamentals.
Additionally, inflows seemed to have dried up with foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) falling $110 million on a weekly basis to stand at $8.04 billion as of August 4, data released in the previous week showed.
In a key development, SBP Governor Jameel Ahmad has said that global economic conditions have largely contributed to higher inflation in Pakistan.
“World economy remained under pressure in near past that also resulted in an increase in inflation in Pakistan and these conditions were further aggravated due to floods and delay in IMF program review,” he said.
He further said that the nine-month Stand-by Arrangement (SBA) agreed with the IMF has improved foreign reserves of the country and largely resolved near-term issues pertaining to the external sector of the economy.
Globally, the safe-haven US dollar stayed firm against major peers while the yuan sank to a nine-month trough after China’s central bank unexpectedly cut key policy rates for a second time in three months on Tuesday to shore up the country’s sputtering economy.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against six developed-market counterparts including the euro and yen, was about flat at 103.08 after hitting a 1-1/2-month high at 103.46 on Monday, buoyed by demand for the safest assets following a spate of disappointing Chinese economic indicators that raised concerns about global growth.
Punctuating those worries, Chinese data on industrial output, retail sales and investment released shortly after the PBOC’s rate cut showed unexpected slowdowns.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, fell in early trade on Tuesday ahead of a slew of economic data from China which should provide clues on the outlook for any recovery in demand in the world’s top oil importer.
