ISLAMABAD – Pakistani Rupee has continued to perform well against the USDollar and has made further gains in the open market.
The dollar lost further Rs 2 in the interbank market after touching arecord-low of Rs 122.4 yesterday.
The greenback is trading at Rs 122.80 (buying) and between Rs 123 (selling).
Earlier, when the market opened, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) saw anegative trend. The benchmark Karachi Stock Exchange-100 index lost 400points to reach 43,170 points.
Samiullah Tariq, Director Research at Arif Habib Limited, said, “The StateBank of Pakistan has taken steps to curb the illegal outflow of dollars.”
He added, “The government, on the other hand, has also imposed restrictionson imports, which has improved the supply of the foreign currency in themarket.”
Tariq further stated that State Bank’s reported purchase of dollars fromthe market at lower prices was driving down the rate of the greenbackdollar in the interbank market.
However, IGI Head of Research Saad Khan is of the opinion that the decreasein dollar price is a temporary move driven from an anomaly created in themarket.
Saad Khan said, “Open market rate [for the dollar] is slightly higher thanthat in the interbank market, which has created this temporary situation.Buying low and selling high in the open market has led to a liquidityproblem.”
The IGI analyst believes the change in the country’s leadership along witha loan commitment of $6-7bn from Saudi Arabia and Asian Development Bankhave a part to play in the decline in dollar price.