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

Trump says he urged team to ‘slow’ COVID-19 testing

US President Donald Trump said Saturday he was encouraging health officials in his administration to slow down coronavirus testing, arguing that increased tests lead to more cases being discovered. The president has claimed falsely on several occasions that surges of COVID-19 in several states can be explained by greater numbers of diagnostic tests. At his first rally since the outbreak forced nationwide shutdowns in March, Trump told the crowd in Tulsa, Oklahoma that testing was a “double-edged sword.” The United States — which has more deaths and cases than any other country — has carried out more than 25 million coronavirus tests, placing it outside the top 20 countries in the world, per capita. “Here is the bad part: When you do testing to that extent, you are going to find more people, you will find more cases,” Trump argued. “So I said to my people ‘slow the testing down.’ They test and they test.” It was not clear from Trump’s tone if he was playing to the crowd, who ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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

IS confirms Baghdadi’s death, vows revenge

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.—AP BEIRUT: The Islamic State militant group confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a statement on Thursday and named his replacement as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi. “We mourn you ... commander of the faithful,” said Abu Hamza al-Quraishi — presented as the group’s new spokesman — in an audio statement. Baghdadi, who led IS since 2014 and was the world’s most wanted man, was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria’s province of Idlib on Sunday. The group also confirmed the killing in another raid the following day of the group’s previous spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir. The statement said the group’s legislative and consultative body convened after the 48-year-old Iraqi-born jihadist chief’s death. “The Islamic State shura council convened immediately after confirming the martyrdom of Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and the elders of the holy warriors agreed” on a replacement, said the seven-minute message. Little is known abou...
Post a Comment
Read more