27 October 2004	Wednesday	12 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Oct 26: The rupee on Tuesday recovered six paisa and closed at 61.10 a US dollar, up from 61.16 on Monday. Senior bankers said the rupee that had lost 61 paisa to a dollar on Monday made this modest recovery as the central bank sold $10-20 million through some banks to lift the local currency.

They said the rupee inched up also because the State Bank had not let them go short in their net open positions on Monday. "Besides, there was an increased inflow of export dollars in the market," said treasurer of a foreign bank.

Last week also, an indirect intervention by the central bank had enabled the rupee to recover 24 paisa against the dollar in a single session.

But generally, the SBP has refrained from artificially boosting the rupee and has let it find its real worth through the interaction of market forces.

Since July, the rupee has fallen by more than 5 per cent primarily due to widening trade deficit on the back of soaring international oil prices.