0
KARACHI: In the currency market Friday, the rupee ended almost flat at 90.74/78 to the dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 90.73/80, and dealers expect some pressure on the rupee because of rising global oil prices.
Oil was trading close to $123 a barrel on Friday.
The rupee had been supported this week by remittances from overseas Pakistanis, which rose 23.4 per cent to $8.59 billion in the first eight months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $6.96 billion in the same period last year.
In February, remittances were $1.16 billion. The rupee touched a record low of 91.28 to the dollar in January, dragged down by concerns over higher payments for oil imports and Pakistan’s overall economic health.
There was also concern about Pakistan’s trade deficit, which widened by 41 per cent to $14.6 billion in the first eight months of the 2011/12 fiscal year, compared with $10.34 billion in the same period the previous year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported.
Exports in the July-Feb period totaled $15.19 billion, and imports totaled $29.79 billion.
The International Monetary Fund has advised Pakistan to take immediate steps to tackle growing budget pressures and raise interest rates to contain inflation.
The central bank kept the key policy rate flat at 12 per cent for two months in its monetary policy announcement in February.
Last month, the IMF projected a widening of Pakistan’s budget deficit in the 2011/12 fiscal year to 7 per cent of gross domestic product, compared with the government’s revised budget target of 4.7 per cent.
In the money market, overnight rates rose to 11.90 per cent, compared with Thursday’s close of 9.10 per cent, because of tight liquidity in the interbank market.
Dealers said there were scheduled outflows of 350 billion rupees ($3.9 billion) against inflows of 320 billion on Friday.
