KARACHI: The rupee sank to yet another record low against the dollar on Tuesday as it closed at 181.73, down 0.26 per cent from a day ago.

According to Arif Habib Ltd Head of Research Tahir Abbas, the rupee has lost as much as 2.87pc since the beginning of 2022.

Analysts say demand for dollars is high because of the upturn in oil and other commodity prices in the international market. The political crisis is also adding to the pressure on the local currency.

The rupee is down 13.31pc since the beginning of 2021-22. It has shed 16.21pc value since its most recent high on May 14.

A day earlier, the rupee lost 0.38pc against the dollar in the inter-bank market amidst the opposition’s yet another attempt at ousting the prime minister.

Currency dealers said the State Bank of Pakistan made an intervention on Monday to arrest the slide of the rupee on the week’s first day.

Despite a significantly low current account deficit of $0.5 billion in February (versus $2.5bn in January), demand for the greenback was still high owing to unusually high commodity prices.

“The oil prices have come down from the peak and are now hovering above $116 per barrel but they are still very high compared to rates available six months before,” said a open market trader.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2022