Skip to main content

US dollar hits all-time high at Rs144 intraday in interbank market

Sudden devaluation of local currency against the US dollar was witnessed in interbank trading on Friday morning as the greenback hit an all-time high of Rs144 during intraday trading.

Sources told DawnNewsTV that the sudden rise of Rs10 in the value of the US dollar is based on the government's commitments to the International Monitory Fund (IMF).

The US dollar, which was being traded at Rs134 yesterday, opened higher at Rs142 on Friday while the local currency further devalued by Rs2 to Rs144 before setting to Rs140 at midday.

Zaffar Paracha, General Secretary of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP), told DawnNewsTV that the sudden devaluation of rupee has created a panic in the market. He said that the traders are expecting the open market to open at around Rs143 to Rs144.

He said that the devaluation was expected due to the current dialogues between the government and the IMF. "It seems a continuation of the IMF's condition for a bailout package," he added.

Paracha demanded of the government to properly announce the devaluation to end the panic among currency dealers.

Another analyst Ahsan Mehanti said that the move was unexpected for the interbank market as the country has not yet entered the IMF programme. "Owing to the devaluation of the local currency in the recent past, the government was being expected to discourage the rupee devaluation," he added.

"It is not good news for Pakistan," he said, adding that it will also increase the import bill of the country.

According to Mehanti, the IMF was asking the government to bring rupee value at Rs145 per dollar and the interest rate at 10.5 per cent as a precondition for a bailout package. "It seems that the government is complying with the IMF's demands," he concluded.

Senior analyst Khurram Hussain says it appears to be a controlled event. He said that the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has not intervened as yet. He said that the SBP might comment on this at the end of the day or while issuing the monetary policy.

He ruled out the possibility of black marketers behind the sudden fall as suggested by PTI leader and federal minister Faisal Vawda.

It is the first major devaluation strike against the local currency during the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led (PTI) government in the country.

Earlier on Oct 9, 2018, the value of the dollar had shot up by Rs11.70 in the interbank market during trading before closing at Rs133.64. It had closed the previous day at Rs124.27 to the dollar a day earlier.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had explained the move as reflective of current account dynamics and a demand-supply gap in the foreign exchange market. The top bank had stated that it will continue to closely monitor the situation and "stand ready to intervene" in case of any unwarranted volatility in the foreign exchange market.

During the two months of the caretaker government, the local currency had been devalued to Rs130 per dollar from around Rs102 per dollar. The dollar was traded at Rs130 just before the general elections.

Earlier, in December 2017 and in March 2018, the rupee was devalued, each time by about 5pc, by the central bank.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/2rcDibR
via IFTTT
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IT ministry forms panel to review social media rules

ISLAMABAD: While uproar against the new rules to regulate social media continues from various segments of society, including parliamentarians, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and civil society, the information technology ministry on Friday formed a committee to review the rules. The federal cabinet approved the rules on Feb 11, but later after opposition from various quarters, including companies that manage different social media platforms, the prime minister announced that a fresh consultation process would be launched over the Citizens Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020. The committee formed by the IT ministry is headed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Chairman Amir Azeem Bajwa while its members are Eazaz Aslam Dar, additional secretary of IT; Tania Aidrus, member of the Strategic Reforms Imple­mentation Unit, Prime Minister Office; and Dr Arslan Khalid, focal person on digital media at the PM Office. Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Ma
Post a Comment
Read more

Young girl’s tragic story makes her symbol of Yemen war

Buthaina Mansur al-Rimi’s life has changed drastically since last year — orphaned in Sanaa, the little girl controversially ended up in Saudi Arabia for medical care and has just returned to Yemen’s capital. Her entire immediate family was wiped out in an air strike by a Saudi-led coalition that backs Yemen’s government, using an explosive device Amnesty International says was made in the US. Images of Buthaina’s rescue and a picture of her swollen and bruised at a hospital trying to force open one of her eyes with her fingers were beamed worldwide. That international fame saw her become something of a propaganda pawn in the war between Yemen’s Iran-backed Huthi rebels and Saudi media. “I was in my mother’s room with my father, sisters, brother and uncle, the first missile hit, and my father went to get us sugar to get over the shock, but then the second missile hit, and then the third,” she says. “And then the house fell,” adds the little girl, who says she is eight. It was the
Post a Comment
Read more