Rupee Reverses Losses Against US Dollar After SBP Decision

The Pakistani rupee reversed losses against the US Dollar today after opening trade at 280 in the interbank market. It was largely stable against the greenback during intraday trade and hit 280-281 at brief intervals today. The interbank rate later recovered back to 279 before closing at the same level for the remainder of the day. Open market rates across multiple currency counters were in the 279-281 range today. At close, the PKR appreciated by 0.03 percent to close at 279.55 after gaining nine paisas against the dollar today. Reversing yesterday’s losses, the rupee closed in the green having gained for 8 successive days until last week. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, it has so far appreciated by 2.28 percent. Overall, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 60 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 107 against the greenback. As per the exchange rate movements seen today, the PKR gained nine paisas against the dollar today. Markets eased following yesterday’s meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) which decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 22 percent. While arriving at the decision, the Committee observed that the frequent and sizeable adjustments in administered energy prices have slowed down the pace of decline in inflation anticipated earlier, besides impeding a sustained decrease in inflation expectations. The PKR was green against most of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It gained two paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), two paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), 29 paisas against the Euro (EUR), and 53 paisas against the British Pound (GBP). Meanwhile, it lost 37 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD) and 39 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) in today’s interbank currency market.