KARACHI: The rupee remained under pressure and lost 88 paise against the US dollar in the interbank market on Friday.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported the closing price of the dollar at Rs284.31. This was the 10th consecutive session of dollar appreciation. The regular increases in the greenback prices have seriously disturbed the market and the stakeholders.

Bankers said the inflows were slow as exporters were not selling their holdings as the chance for dollar depreciation looks slim which means the market would remain in the grip of a short supply trend.

Currency experts said the demand was high as the importers were keen to buy to save the future cost of dollars which may go up. However, the market expects a positive outcome of the ongoing negotiations with the IMF team in the shape of the release of the $710m tranche that may help the PKR regain its strength.

The open market also witnessed the same trend as the dollar rose by 50 paise to Rs285.

However, for a couple of months, the dollar rates in both markets have been moving in a narrow range as the IMF had kept a condition to limit the differential to a maximum of 1.25 per cent.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2023