Rupee Deteriorates Further Ringing Alarm Bells for Next Quarter

The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) resumed its losing streak against the US Dollar (USD) in the interbank currency market yesterday, after posting gains for one day on Friday last week. PKR has constantly been posting losses against the USD since the beginning of the current fiscal year. Within the past one week, PKR went from trading under Rs. 158 to the USD to trading over Rs. 159 to the USD. ALSO READ Rupee Continues Losing Streak After Posting Gains for One Day On Monday (yesterday), PKR lost 19 paisas to the USD. Today (July 13), PKR closed at Rs. 159.50 to the USD with a loss of 14 paisas over yesterday’s (July 12) exchange rate of Rs. 159.36 to the USD. The PKR has lost nearly two rupees to the USD since July 1 due to higher demand from importers and oil payments. Asad Rizvi, the former Treasury Head at the Chase Manhattan Bank, said earlier in the day, “USD will continue to flirt with PKR parity until payment position gets back to normal.” He said, “[Eid-ul-Azha] flows will start drying up soon that may not help in the later weeks. Without strong support from exporters, the pressure could mount. Next quarter could be tough.” Repeating yesterday’s trend, the PKR also posted blanket losses against other major currencies in the interbank currency market today, except against the Euro. PKR posted gains of 19 paisas against the Euro today. Against other currencies, PKR lost 14 paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP), 30 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), and 26 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD). ALSO READ Rupee Posts Gains Against US Dollar for the First Time Since The Start of FY21-22 PKR also eroded by 3.9 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED) and by 4.1 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR) in the interbank currency market today.