Rupee rises to Rs159.5 vs dollar

The Newspaper's Staff Reporter Published April 23, 2020

The dollar has been falling against the local currency since last Friday when it lost Rs3. — AFP/File

KARACHI: The rupee gained once again on Wednesday to reach Rs159.50 against the US dollar.

Currency dealers said the greenback was traded as low as Rs159 but closed at Rs159.50. The dollar has been falling against the local currency since last Friday when it lost Rs3.

The US dollar further lost Rs2.36 on Tuesday and about Rs1.50 on Wednesday.

The Rs159.5 was the highest level since March 24. The rupee had declined to Rs167.9 against the dollar on April 7 but has gained five per cent or Rs8.4 against dollar since then.

The State Bank of Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed the receipt of $1.39 billion from the International Monetary Fund to help the government fight coronavirus-related challenges.

Currency dealers in the inter-bank market were clueless about the future trend in rupee-dollar parity but were sure that exchange rate stability would last for a longer period.

SBP raises Rs436bn from T-bills as yields

The government on Wednesday received bids worth Rs1.45 trillion in the latest treasury bill auction, press release issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

Despite auction of target of Rs500 billion, the SBP only accepted bids worth Rs436bn. Of the total bids, the SBP raised Rs164.03bn from three-month, Rs126.5bn from six-month and Rs145bn from 12-month papers.

The cut-off yields for three-month instruments fell by 250 basis points to 8.399 per cent whereas for six-month papers, it fell by 230bps to 8pc and 218bps for 12-month papers to 7.48pc.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2020

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Fastrack

Apr 23, 2020 08:24am

Great going. Shabbash. Haters are reading this and feeling the pain. Now see their sad comments.

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Jiten

Apr 23, 2020 08:49am

@Fastrack, wait for another month and see where PKR land. It has to go to 180 by June end to meet IMF target. You can shabash your leader then. Spot trading is different from long-term spread. But you cannot understand that.

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jahan

Apr 23, 2020 08:53am

The Rupee will strengthen further against the Dollar since the US central Bank has been printing Dollars Non Stop since last September . It's just a matter of time that the Dollar will lose it's safe haven status . The Federal Reserve's balance sheet is getting close to 6 Trillion Dollars. Never before in history has America printed so much currency in such a short period of time . People in Pakistan are advised to exchange their Dollars for Gold and Silver .

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Apr 23, 2020 01:03pm

To every rise there is a fall and for every dollar there is a halt.

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Umair

Apr 23, 2020 02:36pm

Dollar will settle at 130

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Farooq

Apr 23, 2020 02:52pm

Rupees is being managed/supported by SBP and will tumble as soon as the support is lifted. We like it not it is going to reach 175 plus soon.

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ali

Apr 23, 2020 09:53pm

@jahan , you view stands correct for Gold and Silver as safe haven with true value. Since rupee is pegged to USD, it will take rupee down as well.

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Altaf Gil

Apr 24, 2020 01:01am

152 to 150

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Bilal

Apr 24, 2020 05:41am

India rupee finally crossed 77 to USD. It will reach 100, I have been rooting since it was 50. Pak will cross 200 but it won't happen until we get a corrupt govt.

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