From Zeeshan Mirza
KARACHI: The United States Dollar (USD) registered an increase in value against the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) as trading began in the inter-bank market on Wednesday, media reported.
The US Dollar (USD) registered a three rupee hike against the PKR bumping its value to Rs162. The greenback has increased its value by Rs 3.33 in the past two days due to the ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus. Yesterday, The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) plunged by 2000 points as KSE-100 index closed at 28,596 points.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange opened for trading two hours late at 11:30 am on Tuesday. The PSX triggered a market halt at 11:30 am due to a 5 per cent decline in KSE-30 Index. When the exchange re-started its trading, the KSE-100 index went further down to 2044 points at 28,623 level. Pakistani currency depreciated around Rs3 against the US dollar to a nine-month low at Rs162 in intra-day trade in the inter-bank market on Wednesday. The rupee surpassed the crucial threshold mark of Rs160 for the first time in the past nine months on Wednesday.
However, the rupee had closed at Rs159 on Tuesday, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
“The latest drop in rupee is seen following the benchmark interest cut by 150 basis points to 11% in an emergency meeting yesterday,” Arif Habib Limited Head of Research Samiullah Tariq said while talking to The Express Tribune. The pressure on rupee partly mounted since foreign investors continued to pull out short-term investment from Pakistani debt and stock markets, he added.
Similarly, Pakistani currency shed over 3% to Rs159 for one month till yesterday.
Including Wednesday’s drop, the rupee has depreciated a cumulative 5% to Rs162 in intraday trade.
The coronavirus pandemic has kept uncertainty on economies around the world, including Pakistan, Tariq said.
