Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate
The Pakistani rupee showed signs of stability against the US Dollar today, following a period of sharp declines. It commenced trading at 304 in the interbank market.
Around noon, the rupee took a bearish turn, dropping to a low of 307.925, marking a loss of approximately Rs. 4 against the US Dollar, in line with the initial bearish sentiment.
However, between 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM, it managed to recover to the 305 level before maintaining a more stable trend for the remainder of the day.
Since the caretaker government assumed power, the US Dollar has appreciated by Rs. 16.02 against the Pakistani Rupee.
In the open market, documented rates from various currency counters ranged from 308 to 314 for the US Dollar.
By the close of the day’s trading, the Pakistani Rupee managed to appreciate by 0.02 percent, closing at 305.47, and gaining seven paisas against the US Dollar.
The black market rate has also moved further away from the Bank rate and trades in the 325-331 band. Meanwhile, currency dealers expect slowed slippages until the PKR finds a comfortable level to form resistance at. September may see multiple record lows of somewhere between 310-320, in sync with the losing trend of August unless macros improve.
Pertinently, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 85 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 132 against the greenback. As per exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has gained seven paisas against the dollar.
So far in 2023, the rapid decline in the value of the Pakistani Rupee is attributable to a combination of premature relaxation of imports, weakening exports, and diversion of home remittances to hawala, which in turn feeds the strong demand for US dollars by smugglers and the informal/under-invoiced traders.
