29 October 2004	Friday	14 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Oct 28: The rupee, on Thursday, lost 12 paisa and closed at 61.22 per US dollar in the inter-bank market, down from 61.10 on Wednesday.

Senior bankers said the rupee went down on higher demand for dollars for oil import payments. They said the central bank did not intervene to lift the rupee. Earlier this week, the central bank had made a modest intervention to keep the rupee from falling too sharply.

The rupee has lost more than five per cent value against the US dollar in the inter-bank market since July chiefly due to a widening trade deficit on the back of soaring international oil prices.