The Pakistani rupee continued its historic fall against the US Dollar today after opening trade at 299.5 in the interbank market.

At 12 PM, it was bearish, falling as low as 304.925 after losing ~Rs. 5 against the greenback, in tandem with opening-bell bears.

Later, it went back to the 302 level between 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM before going back to 304 and anchored trends for the remainder of the day.

Since the caretaker government came to power, the USD has gained Rs. 15.95 against the PKR.

Open market rates (documented) across multiple currency counters stood in the 307-312 range.

At close, the PKR depreciated by 0.46 percent to close at 304.45 after losing Rs. 1.39 against the dollar today.

The black market rate has also moved further away from the Bank rate and trades in the 318-325 band. Meanwhile, currency dealers expect slowed slippages until the PKR finds a comfortable level to form resistance at. August may see multiple record lows of somewhere between 303-306, as reported earlier.

Pertinently, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 84 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 131 against the greenback. As per exchange rate movements witnessed today, the PKR has lost Rs. 1.39 against the dollar.

In a key development, Moody’s in its latest report ‘Sovereigns – South and Southeast Asia Population growth alone will not drive credit benefits for emerging economies’ stated that weak infrastructure and governance act as additional constraints for Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The rating agency noted that six large developing Asian sovereigns – Bangladesh (B1 stable), India (Baa3 stable), Indonesia (Baa2 stable), Pakistan (Caa3 stable), the Philippines (Baa2 stable), and Vietnam (Ba2 stable) – will account for about one-third of the global population increase over the next 20 years, as well as 40percent of the rise in the working-age population.

Weak infrastructure and governance act as additional constraints for Pakistan, the agency noted.

The PKR was red against the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It lost Rs. 1.62 against the Australian Dollar (AUD), Rs. 1.82 against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), Rs. 2.73 against the British Pound (GBP), and Rs. 3.21 against the Euro (EUR).

Moreover, it lost 36 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR) and 37 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED) in today’s interbank currency market.

Source: ProPakistani