Rupee falls marginally against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline, depreciating 0.06% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday.

At close, the currency settled at 278.5, a loss of Re0.16, against the greenback.

During the previous week, the rupee decreased marginally as it lost Re0.21 or 0.07% against the US dollar. The local unit closed at 278.34 against the greenback, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

In recent months, the domestic currency has largely been around 277-279 against the dollar as traders have an eye on some strong positive indicators.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has not yet included Pakistan on the agenda of its executive board meetings scheduled till July 31.

In a press conference on Sunday, Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb said China would support Pakistan’s negotiation with the IMF and would play its role in securing approval from the Fund’s board.

He said that Pakistan opted for the IMF programme to bring micro-stability in the country and China would support Pakistan in securing approval for the IMF agreement.

Globally, the Japanese yen strengthened against the US dollar as an escalation in Middle-East tensions rignited safe-haven demand for the Japanese currency.

The dollar was last down 0.17% at 153.51 yen after slipping as much as 0.35% initially.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave rates unchanged this week, but cut them by a quarter point at the following meeting in September.