Rupee Gains 3rd Day in a Row Against US Dollar

The Pakistani rupee (PKR) gained further ground against the US Dollar and posted big gains for the third consecutive day during intraday trade today. The Pakistani rupee was largely stable throughout intraday trade today with the interbank rate losing ~Rs. 1 to reach 285 by 11 AM. By 1:25 PM, it moderated movement and recovered to 284.5 and stayed at this level. At close, the PKR appreciated by 0.18 percent to close at 284.4 after gaining 51 paisas during intraday trade today. The rupee reported gains today after news from the United Arab Emirates and China pumped markets. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Twitter announced that the United Arab Emirates had bilateral support of $1 billion funds to Pakistan. A couple of hours later he again tweeted that the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) had approved the third and final disbursement of funds amounting to $300 million under its $1.3 billion arrangement for Pakistan. More importantly, money changers said the markets reacted most likely in response to comments made by the Managing Director (MD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva who said yesterday that the lender hopes to complete the current program with Pakistan successfully. Citing a recently published news report, one trader said while the IMF chief ‘hoped’ that the talks would result in the renewal of the lender’s bailout to Pakistan, she seemed a little less optimistic than the coalition government that has repeatedly assured the country that a deal was close to being reached. The rupee is still down nearly Rs. 54 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 101 against the greenback. As per exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has observed gains of over 50 paisas against the dollar. The PKR was bullish against some of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It gained 12 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), and 13 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED). Conversely, it lost 40 paisas against the Pound Sterling (GBP), Rs. 1.09 against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), Rs. 1.29 against the Australian Dollar (AUD), and Rs. 1.42 paisas against the Euro (EUR) in today’s interbank currency market.