KARACHI: The dollar continued to rise against the Pakistan rupee on Monday as it gained 79 paisa while the last price in the inter-bank market was Rs200.93.

In the open market, the dollar was traded at Rs201.20. The dollar has been the focal point during the entire fiscal FY22 while it succeeded in crossing the Rs200 mark last week, reflecting the poor performance of the external account of the economy.

The reserves of the State Bank fell to $10.2bn from $20bn in August of FY22. This decline psychologically depressed the local currency while the importers were in a race to open the maximum number of letters of credit (LCs). It increased the demand and the dollar crossed the Rs200 mark after eight years.

Currency dealers in the inter-bank said they consider political uncertainty as one of the major reasons for the rapid deprecation

of the local currency. However, they also maintained that the dollar has gained more weight against all major currencies since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Published in Dawn,May 24th, 2022