Rupee weakens by 0.10% against US dollar

• Rupee depreciates by 0.10% to close the day’s trade at Rs176.92.
• Demand for dollar continues to be strong due to pressure from importers, pushing the local currency lower.
• Local unit has depreciated by 12.30% since July 1, 2021.

KARACHI: After a day's respite, the Pakistani rupee continued to lose its ground against the US dollar in the interbank market on Thursday, depreciating by 0.10% to close the day’s trade at Rs176.92.

The local currency closed at Rs176.74 in the inter-bank market on Wednesday.

The demand for the dollar continued to be strong due to pressure from importers on the back of a strong economic recovery, pushing the domestic currency lower.

The six-month data on the trade balance also sparked concerns among investors.

Demand and supply pressure is affecting the rupee-dollar parity negatively as exporters are keeping dollars outside which is building pressure on the Pakistani currency.

The rupee has maintained the downtrend for the past seven months. It has lost 16.18% (or Rs24.65) to date, compared to the 22-month high of Rs152.27 recorded in May 2021.

With a fresh decline of 0.10%, the rupee has depreciated by 12.30% (or Rs19.38) since the start of the current fiscal year on July 1, 2021, data released by the central bank revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the local unit hit an all-time low of Rs178.24 on December 29.

A day earlier, in order to stabilise the inflow of foreign exchange, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had directed exporters to bring proceeds within 120 days from the date of shipment.

According to a notification issued in this regard, the central bank had said: "With an objective to improve the timely inflow of foreign exchange from exports proceeds in the market, SBP has amended foreign exchange regulations requiring exporters to bring export proceeds within a maximum period of 120 days from date of shipment."