KARACHI, March 27: Rising inflows of US dollars once again pushed the greenback below Rs60 in the inter-bank market on Monday. Currency dealers said that the rupee gained 3 to 5 paisa against the dollar on reports about higher foreign direct investment and increased remittances from the overseas Pakistani workers.

The State Bank data showed that the inflow of foreign direct investment reached to $2 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal which was 190 per cent higher than the corresponding period of last year. The remittances were also going ahead of the target and might cross $4.2 billion by the end of June 2006.

Meanwhile, the rupee in the open market suffered a loss of five paisa to Rs60.30 from Rs60.25 against the dollar. The inter-bank market was in the range of Rs59.95 to Rs59.98.

Currency dealers said that the US dollar might again cross the Rs60-mark on growing demand from the importers. However, they maintained that the inflow of dollars including the latest subscription of $800 million Eurobond had stabilized the exchange rate.