KARACHI, May 25: The rupee gained seven paisa against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Tuesday from 57.75 a dollar to 57.68. Senior bankers said the local currency captured part of the lost ground against the greenback on higher inflows of foreign exchange.

Some of them said the central bank also sold a few million dollars through a couple of banks. But no SBP official was available to verify it. Sources close to SBP said, however, that the central bank has sold tens of millions of dollars to prop up the rupee in the past few weeks.

Senior bankers said that the rupee moved up also because the exporters made heavy selling of export proceeds anticipating that the dollar may not rise further.

The seven paisa gain is significant because from the start of the month the rupee was on the decline. The local currency shed 30 paisa or more than half a per cent of its value against the US unit in three weeks of this month falling to 57.75 a dollar from 57.45 at end-April.

SBP sources said the central bank would now jealously guard the Rs57.70 a dollar level meaning that it would intervene in the market to stop the dollar rising past this level.