KARACHI, Nov 19: The rupee has shed 10 paisa against the US dollar in two working days of this week, as the demand for dollars was higher than the supply. Bankers said the rupee closed at 59.6932 on Friday, down from 59.6653 on Thursday and 59.5950 on Saturday last as outflow of foreign exchange remained higher than the inflow.

They said importers have started buying dollars anticipating that it may remain stable at the current level, or even get a bit stronger in the days to come as trade deficit continues to widen.

Trade deficit in October 2004 shot up to $591 million, from $170 million in October 2003. Meanwhile, the State Bank continues to provide foreign exchange for import of oil, a practice it started from November 1 to keep the rupee from falling too fast against the dollar.

This practice helped the rupee recover about 2.9pc of its lost value against the dollar between Nov 1 and 13. Earlier, the local unit had lost 5.5pc value in the first four months of this fiscal year. The rupee depreciated primarily due to a record high trade deficit of $1.432 billion during July-October 2004.