[image: rupee dollar]
The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) continued its historic landslide against the USDollar (USD) and reported losses in the interbank market today. The localcurrency lost 83 paisas against the greenback at the close of the sessiontoday.
It depreciated by 0.46 percent against the USD and closed at Rs. 183.48today after losing 30 paisas and closing at Rs. 182.64 in the interbankmarket on Wednesday, 30 March. The domestic currency hit an intra-day lowof Rs. 184.20 against the USD during today’s open market session.
The rupee crashed to another low against the dollar today despite a sharpdecline in oil prices after news that the United States was considering a180 million barrel release from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, thelargest in the entity’s 50-year history.
At the time of filing this report, Brent crude futures were down $6.06, or5.34 percent, to $109.4 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)futures fell $5.69, or 5.28 percent, to $102.1 a barrel, after touching alow of $100.16.
In terms of factors affecting exchange rate consolidation at home, thepolitical pressure is growing on Pakistan’s incumbent government after keyallies switched to the Opposition ahead of a no-confidence vote in theparliament. Added to this, the emergence of a ‘threat letter’ fromdiplomatic sources also dredged more fuel to the fire.
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Discussing the local currency’s performance earlier during the day, theformer Treasury Head of Chase Manhattan Bank, Asad Rizvi, remarked It’svery difficult to remark since uncertainty harms the economy. If there is ano-confidence vote, “resignation could follow and we could be heading forelections”.
He added, “Hope I am wrong because in such a situation financial marketwill be rattled”.
The PKR struggled against other major currencies and reported losses in theinterbank currency market today. It lost 22 paisas against the UAE Dirham(AED), 23 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), 42 paisas against theCanadian Dollar (CAD), and Rs. 1.55 against the Euro (EUR).
