KARACHI, Dec 15: The rupee lost nine paisa against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Wednesday on higher demand for the greenback from importers, senior bankers said.

The rupee has come under pressure due to rising imports, despite the fact that the State Bank continues to sell dollars to banks for making oil import payments. Pakistan's trade deficit touched $1 billion mark in November, intensifying the pressure on the rupee.

In July-October, the rupee had lost 5.5 per cent value against the dollar primarily due to a huge trade deficit of $1.432 billion of which higher oil prices were one of the many contributors.

The central bank started selling dollars from November 1 to ease off the pressure on the rupee after witnessing signs that demand for the dollar was rising too high on the assumption that rising oil prices would widen the trade deficit.

The SBP sold $407m for oil imports in November that helped the rupee recover 2.7pc of its lost ground against the dollar. But in doing so the SBP has let its liquid foreign exchange reserves fall.

The reserves held by the central bank fell to $9.056 billion as on December 4, from $9.778 billion at the end of October primarily due to the dollar selling for oil imports and government's debt payment. Overall forex reserves fell to $11.711 billion from $12.253 billion during this period.