Pakistani rupee suffered 17th consecutive loss to the US dollar in the interbank trading on Thursday and the difference is widening. The margin which was only in a few paisas earlier has now expanded to dozens of paisas, and on Thursday it was 32 paisas in the morning session taking the greenback to Rs228.25. On Wednesday, Pakistani currency lost five paisas to close at Rs227.93 in inter- bank market/ During the ongoing fiscal year, the rupee has depreciated 10.16% against the greenback.

In a key development, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) said it could increase its investments in Pakistan’s cash-strapped economy to $10 billion, the Saudi state news agency reported on Tuesday, as well as increase the ceiling on deposits into the Pakistan central bank to $5 billion. Last month, the Saudis extended the terms of an existing $3 billion deposit in the central bank it made in 2021. On Monday, international donors - including Saudi Arabia - committed over $9 billion to help Pakistan recover from ruinous floods last year at a Geneva meeting co-hosted by the United Nations and Pakistan’s government. Those positive developments have so far failed to make an impact on the money market.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP