The Pakistani rupee has shown some guts and surged by 18 paisas against the US dollar in the interbank trading on Wednesday. As per the money market data, the dollar was plunged during early trade and was exchanged at Rs288.25. On Tuesday, the Pakistani rupee fell to a historic low of Rs288.43 against the US dollar.

The market remained volatile as the local unit remained under pressure almost all this week. However, there was a good news on economic front when the State Bank on Monday announced a 27.41% increase in workers’ remittances for the month of March 2023.

Besides this, a high-level Pakistani delegation led by finance secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh reached Washington on Thursday to attend the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The secretary would represent Pakistan in the absence of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as delegation head after Dar cancelled his visit to Washington on the direction of prime minister, citing political turmoil in the country as the reason.

However, Dar assured the nation that the IMF deal was on track and the government had already completed all prior actions as required from it to conclude the ninth review of the loan programme. Islamabad has been negotiating with the IMF since early February to secure $1.1 billion funding as part of a $6.5 billion rescue programme agreed in 2019.

Open market rates during early trade On the other hand, the rates of different currencies in the open market by 8am today were as followed: The buying rate of one US Dollar in Pakistani Rupees was Rs 292.00, while the selling rate was Rs 295.00. The buying rate of one Saudi Riyal was Rs 76.80, while the selling rate was Rs 77.80.

The buying rate of one Euro was Rs 314.80, while the selling rate was Rs 318.80. The buying rate of one UK Pound Sterling (GBP) was Rs 359.00, while the selling rate was Rs 364.00. The buying rate of one UAE Dirham (AED) was Rs 78.75, while the selling rate was Rs 80.00. The buying rate of one Canadian Dollar (CAD) was Rs 212.30, while the selling rate was Rs 216.30.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP