The Pakistani Rupee (PKR) slid to a new record low against the US Dollar (USD) and depreciated by 74 paisas against the greenback in the inter-bank market today. It hit an intra-day low of Rs. 176.3 against the Dollar during today’s open market session.
The local currency depreciated by 0.42 percent against the USD and closed at Rs. 176.20 today after it posted losses of 48 paisas and closed at Rs. 175.46 in the inter-bank market on Friday, 26 November.
The local currency hit its last record low against the USD on 12 November when it closed at Rs. 175.73.
The former Secretary-General of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan, Zafar Paracha, told a financial daily that the downward slide of the PKR is remarkable, given the strong performance of all major economic indices, the significant decline in international commodity prices, and the recent favorable comment by Finance Adviser Shaukat Tarin.
He remarked that the current Rupee depreciation could be a result of conditions set out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Moreover, the former Treasury Head of Chase Manhattan Bank, Asad Rizvi, tweeted about today’s inter-bank performance prior to the Rupee’s historic low at the market close. He said, “While Pakistan celebrated Blessed Friday & US was enjoying [a] long weekend, OIL PRICES plunged. The spread of VARIANT outbreak news helped. In thin market condition, BACKWARDATION position got corrected”.
He added that softer oil prices will ease the pressure on the PKR to an extent.
Although global oil prices recently plunged by over 10 percent in what was, perhaps, the biggest drop since April 2020 after fears of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, made waves in the market, the Pakistani Rupee managed to report record drops of its own as November draws to a close.
The ‘most worrying’ new South African variant caused the price of Brent crude to tumble by $8.77 (10.7 percent) to $73.45 a barrel on Friday last week after several European and Asian countries enacted immediate travel restrictions to curb its transmission.
Regardless, the local unit took a hit and damaged the reputation of an already shaky exchange ledger as oil prices jumped over five percent on Monday, recovering from Friday’s slump that saw the biggest one-day fall since early 2020.
The PKR continued its disappointing performance against the other major currencies as well, and posted losses in the inter-bank currency market today.
It lost 73 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), 69 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), a huge Rs. 1.35 against the Pound Sterling (GBP), and 19 paisas against the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR).
The Rupee continued its harrowing display against the pervasive Euro (EUR) after it posted losses of 70 paisas against the eurozone currency. It also posted losses of 16 paisas against the Chinese Yuan (CNY).
Moreover, it posted losses of 20 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED) and 19 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR) in the interbank currency market today.
Source: Pro Pakistani