Intraday update: Pakistani rupee drops to all-time low of Rs270 against US dollar

According to information provided by the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the Pakistani rupee depreciated by an additional Rs7.4 after falling to a record low last week, trading at Rs270 per dollar in the interbank market at approximately 1:30 pm on Monday.

From Friday’s close of Rs262.6, this represents a loss of more than 2.5 per cent.

The decline of the rupee was blamed on a lack of dollars by Zafar Paracha, general secretary of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP). He said that the dollar supply had not been resumed. Even though there is no agreement, we do not know where the banks will obtain their supplies.

The SBP deputy governor assured representatives of exchange businesses last week that commercial banks would be instructed to provide money to the exchange companies.

“There is a lot of panic in the market.” If dollars are received, it will cool down a bit. “As long as the market doesn’t settle, people will not sell their remittances or export proceeds,” Paracha said.

The current spell of depreciation came after the coalition government ended its control on dollar’s price in order to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials to revive the $7 billion loan programme.