The Pakistani rupee started the week in negative as it depreciated by 38 paisas against the US dollar in the interbank market on Monday, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the local currency lost 38 paisas in value against the greenback and ended the day at Rs283.58.
On Friday last, the rupee lost 0.53% against the US dollar to settle at 283.20 in the interbank market.
A significant decline was followed by two days of appreciation that trimmed losses, but fundamental reasons for the rupee’s weaker position remained.
A stalled programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) together with reports that the staff-level agreement was still a bit further away meant the currency market did not take any positive cues.
Pakistan is making efforts for resumption of the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of over $1 billion. The release of loan from the IMF will unlock further inflows from other international creditors.
In a key development, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday had said that “friendly” countries were expected to materialise their commitments with Pakistan that would pave the way to close the deal with the IMF and revive the economy.
Moreover, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday had announced the removal of Cash Margin Requirement (CMR) on the import of goods.
Experts opined the step had been taken to resume the IMF programme and get the loan tranche of $1.2 billion to build the central bank's foreign exchange reserves, which stood at $4.6 billion.
Reporter Ashraf Khan