Dollar falls to six-month low against rupee

Pakistani Rupee continued its winning streak against the US Dollar in the interbank market, as PKR gained another 14 paisas on Tuesday to push the greenback below the psychological level of Rs160.

According to a tweet of the State Bank of Pakistan, the US dollar was opened at Rs160.11 and closed at Rs159.97. The Pakistani Rupee gained Rs1.11 in the last week against the greenback.

It may be noted that the last time the dollar stood at similar levels was earlier this year on May 8, when it was changing hands at Rs159.97 in the interbank market.

According to Sana Tawfiq, analyst at Arif Habib Ltd, “Uptick in remittance inflows ($2 billion per month since the beginning of FY21), a quarterly current account surplus ($792 million) after more than five years (last time a surplus was recorded was in 3QFY15) against a deficit of $1.49 billion in the same period last year, coupled with the dollar depreciating against all major currencies (the dollar index is down 10pc since March), are some of the factors that led to appreciation of the rupee.”

The deferment of $1.8bn loan repayment to G20 till December 2020 – with a further relaxation anticipated till June 2021 – and expected improvement in inflows with the launch of Roshan Digital Account have also helped stabilise the exchange rate, she added.

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