KARACHI: The rupee appreciated by another Rs2 on Thursday against the dollar in the interbank market taking the total recovery to Rs17.7 in the last two weeks.

Currency dealers were keen to see the dollar below Rs200 as claimed by the finance minister. However, the fundamentals like foreign exchange reserves and exports showed no encouraging signs.

The State Bank of Pakistan reported the greenback closing price at Rs221.94 compared to Rs223.94 a day ago.

The dollar hit a peak of Rs239.71 on Sept 28. Since then the rupee started recovery due to some unknown factors mainly dominated by the perception that the agreement with the IMF will strengthen the exchange rate while the new finance minister will prove that the rupee was falsely depreciated.

The SBP foreign exchange reserves during the week ended on Sept 30 decreased by $106 million to $7.899 billion “due to external debt repayment which includes interest payments on Eurobonds.”

The country’s total reserves were $13.588bn while the holdings of the commercial banks were $5.689bn.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2022