The US dollar turned the tables on the Pakistani rupee on Wednesday setting aside its upward march spanning on last many days. The rupee which reaped a marginal gain against the US dollar in the morning session in the interbank trading but later succumbed to the greenback losing 95 paisas in value, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
According to the information provided by the money dealers, the US dollar was up by 95 paisas and ended the day at Rs Rs220.68.
Yesterday, the American currency was closed at Rs219.73.
The current strength to the Pakistani rupee has emerged after Pakistan came out of the FATF grey list. Moreover, the country is also expecting an inflow of $1.5 billion soon from the Asian Development Bank for its budgetary support and help in flood-related rehabilitation and reconstruction activities.
Pakistan is facing a serious liquidity crunch as its foreign reserves are dwindling fast. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is currently in America for talks with IMF and World Bank.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is also going on his maiden visit to China in November to seek new investments worth billions of dollars and urge Beijing for rescheduling of its debt.
According to the Mattis Global, China’s help could keep the Pakistani rupee continue its momentum in the days to come. Besides this, Pakistan is also expecting $4 billion funds from the ‘friendly countries’ in coming months which is restoring market confidence in the PKR.
Meanwhile, talking to a delegation of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Tuesday, Dr Mehmet Pacaci, Ambassador of Turkiye, said, “Turkiye is willing to increase bilateral trade with Pakistan to at least $5 billion in the next 2-3 years as both countries have good potential to further enhance two-way trade volume in many items.”
The expected FDI is helping reviving the erstwhile weak currency.
However, there is a growing concern over the availability of dollars in the open market despite its depreciation against the rupee in the interbank.
Currently, dollar is being traded at Rs232 through unauthorized channels. This is attracting sellers towards the grey market, and they are avoiding formal channels of exchange companies.
Economic experts are advising government to revisit its trade and immigration policies with Afghanistan and Iran in order to stem the flight of dollars to these countries.
Reporter Ashraf Khan