PKR suffers losses against USD for 5th consecutive day

The State Bank of Pakistan and the government were unable to stabilise the exchange rate as the Pakistani rupee lost value for the fifth straight day on Monday after falling 46 paisas against the US dollar in the interbank market.

State Bank of Pakistan reports that the local unit decreased by 0.37 per cent to close at Rs219.71.

The closing price in the interbank market, according to the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP), was Rs220 as opposed to Rs219.50 in the previous trading session.

US dollar dropped 30 paise in the open market, closing at Rs225.70 as opposed to Rs226 the previous session. Its price on October 11 was Rs219

The optimistic market sentiments that appeared following the nomination of Ishaq Dar as finance minister in anticipation of his potential to secure dollar inflows appeared to have disappeared.

In FY23, Pakistan would need around $32 billion to pay for its foreign debt, mostly to service it, as well as to close its current account deficit. In a recent interview with a foreign news outlet, the finance minister stated that he will seek to reschedule approximately $27 billion in non-Paris Club debt, the majority of which is owed to China.