The Pakistani rupee continued its impressive recovery streak as the value of the dollar fell further by a record Rs1.07, trading at Rs282.55 in the inter-bank exchange, marking the 23rd consecutive day of decline. This marks a notable improvement in the exchange rate compared to previous months. The Pakistani Rupee continued its upward trend against the US dollar in interbank trading, reaching Rs283.70 on Thursday. In the open market rate, the price of the American currency reached Rs284 with a decrease of Rs1 against the Pakistani Rupee.On the other hand, Pakistan's total public debt ratio increased from 36.9% in FY22 to 38.3% in FY-23.

Ministry of Finance's Annual Debt Review and Public Debt Bulletin for FY2023, the total public debt reached Rs62.88 trillion by the end of June 2023, compared to Rs49.2 trillion, marking an increase of Rs13.64 trillion during the last fiscal year 2022-23 under the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition government.In FY23, the total outstanding guarantees provided to public sector enterprises also rose to Rs3.5 trillion, up from Rs2.9 trillion in FY22. Throughout FY23, the government issued new and rollover guarantees amounting to PKR 584 billion, which accounted for 0.7% of the GDP. Notably, guarantees extended to the oil and gas sector experienced a significant increase, surging from Rs52 billion in FY22 to Rs166 billion in FY23.

 Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)