November 17, 2002	Sunday	Ramazan 11, 1423

KARACHI, Nov 16: The rupee on Saturday rose further up against the US dollar as word took rounds in the financial market that the State Bank is willing to let the greenback shed some extra weight.

Senior bankers said the dollar closed at Rs58.40/Rs58.41 in the inter-bank market down 10 paisa from the previous close of Rs58.50/Rs58.51. They said the dollar had seen an intra-day low of Rs58.30 but later on recovered some value as the State Bank made some buying to prop it up.

Advisor Foreign Exchange & Debt Management Department of the SBP Zafar Shaikh told Dawn that the central bank was actively present in the market without confirming or denying its dollar buying. “We are closely monitoring the market and are actively present...and we will not allow any undue distortion in the exchange rates,” he said when reached by Dawn over telephone.

In just four days the dollar has shed 32 paisa against the local currency as a steep fall in forward premiums have prompted the exporters to sell future export proceeds faster than before. The market has been awash with larger inflows of foreign currency through home remittances and quicker conversion of foreign currency deposits into rupees. Since the start of the fiscal year in July the dollar has depreciated by 2.7pc against the rupee.

KERB MARKET: The US dollar closed at Rs58.10/Rs58.20 in the open currency market down 10 paisa from the previous close of Rs58.20/Rs58.30. In just four days the US unit has lost 40 paisa against the rupee in the kerb market. Since July this year the greenback has depreciated by 3.4pc.