Karachi October 20 2022: Pakistan rupee gains PKR 2.55 in open market against dollar as current account deficit witnessed higher drop than market anticipation.
In Interbank, Pakistan Rupee falls for the seventh consecutive day against dollar, however the decline is much lower compared to yesterday fall as country’s current account deficit falls for the third month in a row and gap shrink with open market rate.
In September, the current account deficit (CAD) declined for the 3rd month in a row. It fell to $0.3bn, less than half the level in August. In Q1FY23, the CAD has fallen to $2.2bn from $3.5bn in Q1FY22, mainly reflecting a decline in imports, according to data released by State Bank of Pakistan.
Pakistan Rupee depreciate 7 paisa or 0.03 percent in interbank to close the trading at 220.95 against yesterday closing of 220.88.
However, In Open Market Rupee is trading at 225.45 against dollar at PST 15:30 against yesterday closing of 228, according to Forex Association of Pakistan.
The dollar index – which measures the currency against six peers including the yen, sterling and euro – eases 0.1% to 112.86. It marked a multi-decade peak at 114.78 at the end of September.
Pakistan will ask international lenders for billions of dollars in loans after devastating floods exacerbated the South Asian nation’s economic crisis, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
“We are not asking for any kind of measure [such as] a rescheduling or a moratorium,” the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the Financial Times. “We are asking for additional funds.”
Pakistan’s new finance minister, Ishaq Dar, told Reuters on Friday that he will seek rescheduling of some $27 billion worth of non-Paris Club debt largely owed to China, but will not pursue haircuts as part of any restructuring. The veteran finance minister said multilateral development banks and international donors have been “quite flexible” with ways to meet Pakistan’s external financing needs estimated at about $32 billion after devastating floods.
SBP foreign exchange reserves for the week ending October 7 2022, were decreased by USD 303 million to USD 7,596 million due to external debt repayments, as per data released by the Central Bank. Pakistan reserves witnessed second biggest drop in the year after Argentina during the period according to Bloomberg which track 53 countries foreign exchange reserves number.
