November 21, 2006	Tuesday	Shawwal 28, 1427

KARACHI, Nov 20: The Pakistani rupee fell to a new low on Monday amid persistent dollar demand from importers and dealers said it could ease further in coming weeks.

The rupee closed at 60.87/89, down from 60.81/83 on Saturday, and its lowest since Oct 30, 2004.

“There has been a slow depreciation in the rupee's value over the past few days, and this trend could continue for some more days,” said a dealer at a local bank.

“Having said that, the fall will not be big, as dollar inflows are also healthy,” the dealer said.

Another dealer said the rupee could hit the 61.00 to the dollar mark in the next few days.

In the money market, overnight call rates ended unchanged at around 9.25 per cent, and dealers said they were now eyeing a regular Treasury bills auction later in the week.-—Reuters