Rupee reverses gains, loses 0.52% against US dollar

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee underwent another fall on Thursday, closing in on the 175 level against the US dollar in the inter-bank market.

As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the local currency closed at Rs174.67 against the greenback, a decline of nearly Re1 or 0.52%.

On Wednesday, the former finance minister Miftah Ismail had cited four major reasons, which according to him are the main reasons for the “recent precipitous decline in the value of the rupee.”

Among these were uncertainty about the renewal of the IMF programme, the largest trade deficit and fastest-growing imports in history, the fourth-highest inflation rate among major countries and a rapid increase in the money supply.

It is pertinent to mention here that the local currency closed at an all-time low of Rs175.73 against the greenback on November 12.

Earlier, AA Commodities Director Adnan Agar had noted that there was quite a lot of uncertainty regarding the IMF programme.

“The IMF programme has been taking time because of a condition regarding the autonomy of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP),” he had said, adding that a delay in the deposit of $3 billion funds from Saudi Arabia also contributed to the uncertainty.

Agar had mentioned that if uncertainty continues till next week, the currency will lose further ground.

He had predicted that the currency will close the calendar year 2021 above Rs170.

Read more: Rupee’s upsurge against dollar continues