October 3, 2002	Thursday	Rajab 25, 1423

KARACHI, Oct 2: The US dollar traded below Rs59 level in the kerb market for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.

Money changers said the dollar finished trading at Rs58.85/Rs58.90 for spot buying and selling on Wednesday depicting no big change overnight — but keeping below Rs59 for the second day.

But Forex Association of Pakistan said the US unit closed at Rs58.95/Rs59.05 for buying and selling on Wednesday down five paisa overnight.

“The dollar is down in the kerb market as people believe that it will shed more of its official value on the back of surging reserves,” said Haji Haroon of Dubai Exchange. In the inter-bank the dollar rather gained two paisa to close at Rs59.12/Rs59.14. But news that the foreign exchange reserves of the country had shot up to $8.2 billion made many think that the dollar would fall further in inter-bank market. Bankers said the SBP continues to keep the dollar stable for the exporters both through direct purchases from banks as well as through dollar/rupee swaps.

“If the dollar does not fall in the inter-bank market it will also remain stable for a while in the kerb,” said Haji Haroon.

Anwar Jamal of Galaxy International said the dollar had fallen to its two-year low also because some people had liquidated its stocks to pay taxes at the quarter-end on September 30.

Zafar Paracha of Paracha Exchange said there was no buyer for the dollar in the market whereas sellers made a beeline hoping that the US unit might fall further before elections due next week.