January 1, 2002	Tuesday	Shawwal 16, 1422

KARACHI, Dec 31: The rupee on Monday stayed firm against the dollar as demand from the leading importers for the US currency remained relatively slow owing to fears of war.

“Importers have considerably slowed down their import business, fearing a disruption in physical shipments in case border skirmishes escalate into a major conflict between Pakistan and India,” money market source say, adding “the falling demand for the dollar has further lowered its value against the rupee”.

Unconfirmed reports say a section of exporters is also unloading in part export proceeds to support their rupee commitments.

The dollar was quoted at Rs59.75 and Rs60.25 as compared to Rs60 and Rs59.95 for buying and selling on last Saturday, off 25 to 30 paisa.

“In war-like conditions as the prevailing ones, moneyed people seek safe haven in the dollar but its current weakness reflects they have no appetite for it for unknown reasons,” money market dealers claim.

“The dollar may not be in oversupply owing to selling coming from some untraditional sources, but it looks so because of its continued weakness,” money market analysts claim.

On the kerb market, the rupee also ruled strong against the dollar and was quoted unchanged at the weekend rate of Rs61.10 and Rs61.20 for buying and selling.

The wedge between the inter-bank and kerb rates was Rs1.25 and 95 paisa for buying and selling respectively, the former being at a discount.