It has been 13th loss in a row for the Pakistani rupee as the US dollar’s uninterrupted march continued in the interbank market on Friday. The forex dealers divulged that the greenback rose by another 13 paisas against the local currency and was currently being traded at Rs227.25. On Thursday, Pakistani rupee had registered a marginal loss against the US dollar, depreciating 0.07% in the inter-bank market. As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee declined by 17 paisas to close the day at 227.12.

The market was exected to see some positive development after Finance Miniseter Ishaq Dar's statement that Saudi Arabia is all set to boost its deposits in Pakistan, but the State Bank's data regarding forex reserves apparently dented such hopes severely. According to the SBP, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank had falled by 4.2% on a week-on-week basis.

On December 30, 2022 the forex reserves were recorded at $5,576.5 million, down $245 million as compared to $5,821.9 million on December 23. According to the SBP, the decrease in reserves came due to external debt repayment. Overall, the liquid forex reserves held by the country, including the net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $11,422.5 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,846 million.

Earlier, in the week ended on December 23, the SBP’s reserves decreased by $294 million to $5,821.9 million as Pakistan repaid some of its external debt. The decline in rupee’s value persisted despite Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar’s statement that Saudi Arabia “is expected to beef up its deposits in Pakistan in a few days”.

The minister was of the view: “All nations of the world opt for borrowing new money to pay old liabilities or they opt for rollover. We are opting for rolling over of deposits.” Ishaq Dar stated that Pakistan’s reserves were “pure till 2018 and no other country had deposits in Pakistan” at that time. The minister said the country’s foreign exchange reserves are projected to be in a much better shape by June 30, 2023. He said there was no issue in the 9th review and the present government is committed to completing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP