By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: The rupee fell by Rs3.01 against the US dollar on Tuesday during interbank trade.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the local currency was changing hands at Rs291.50 at the day’s hand, dropping by one per cent against the previous close of Rs288.49.
The dollar was trading for Rs300 in the open market in the afternoon. Currency dealer Zafar Paracha said that the rupee’s depreciation was “expected”. He said that the under the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the difference between the open market and the interbank market should be 1pc.
He said that the open market was witnessing an “upward trend”, adding that this also had an effect on the interbank market.
Paracha went on to say that the caretaker set-up also had an effect on the dollar rate, as the outgoing government usually left difficult decisions to the former as it does not have a “political stake”.
The currency dealer expected that the rupee would “remain under pressure”. He noted that the government’s policies were in conflict with each other and called for undertaking structural reforms.
“Our financial credentials are excellent. But our policies are (lacking),” he said. The US dollar had hit 302 against the rupee in the open market on Saturday, going beyond the boundaries marked by the IMF to keep the difference in open and interbank exchange rates in the range of 1 per cent to 1.5 per cent.
Under the $3 billion standby arrangement signed with the IMF in late June, the previous coalition government agreed to maintain a single currency rate in both interbank and open markets, with a slight difference of up to 1.5pc increase in the open market’s value.
