The Pakistan’s rupee on Tuesday dropped to record low against the US dollar, the UAE Durham and other major currencies as the embattled nation faces delay in its attempt to revive its loan program with the IMF to avoid a default.
The rupee tumbled 1% to 288 a dollar in intraday trading in interbank market due to economic uncertainty and political instability ahead of Supreme Court decision on fresh polls in the Punjab province.
The market insiders and forex traders said the rupee will remain under pressure during the week and may move closer to 300 mark to a dollar.
On March 2, the rupee depreciated 6.66 per cent or 18.98 to 285.09 (77.68 against the dirham) in interbank market while it crossed 290-barrier against the greenback (79.01 versus the dirham) in the open market for the first time and moved closer to hit 300-mark.
Analysts and market experts termed the rupee depreciation part of a market correction as IMF demanded to end the significant gap in rates between the open and inter-bank market. Investor sentiment was also dented amid economic uncertainty due to delay in the IMF funds, they said.
State Bank of Pakistan is also expected to increase interest rates by another 200 basis points to 300 basis points today.
American Dollar Exchange Rate