KARACHI: The US dollar again fell back to Rs98 in the inter-bank market on Wednesday, prompting currency dealers to expect further decline in the coming sessions.

The dollar kept resisting in the inter-bank market for the last three days but could not break the psychological barrier of Rs100.

Dealers in the inter-bank market said the State Bank has been influencing to keep the dollar at Rs98.

“There are no two opinions about the influence of the central bank for stabilising the exchange rate at Rs98,” said Atif Ahmed, a currency dealer in the inter-bank. This influence could remain in the market till end of this fiscal year, he added.

According to him, the government would not like to lose the credit of bringing dollar at Rs98.

Faisal Mamsa of Landmark Capital said, “All news coming out of the forex market is good news and the rupee is in the consolidation phase. Even the news of $2-billion current account deficit was taken in stride.”

Market experts said the dollar was falling so fast that it could touch Rs97 while trading was made at Rs98 during the day.

“The rupee will stay range-bound in the short to medium term, although a temporary intraweek spike may be witnessed that could take the local currency to 97,” said Eman Khan from Aerari, an application that tracks currencies. “The focus will now be on building the reserves.”

However, the open market did not reflect the exchange rate sentiment of the inter-bank market and a wide range of rates was available.

“We traded dollar at Rs99.90 to Rs100.10 while the B-category exchange companies were charging higher rates,” said Mailk Bostan, chairman of Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan.

A shortage of dollars was also witnessed in the kerb market. The State Bank has been supplying dollars to stabilise this market, but buyers were still eager to get the greenback at this rate which is much lower than a month ago.

“Buyers still don’t believe the dollar fell back below Rs100 which is why the rate is higher in the open market. It will take one more week to settle this erratic exchange rate,” said Mr Bostan.