Rupee strengthens against US dollar

The Pakistani rupee registered some improvement, appreciating 0.08% against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Friday.

At close, the currency settled at 278.40, a gain of Re0.21 against the greenback.

On Thursday, the local unit had settled at 278.61 against the US dollar.

In recent weeks, the domestic currency has largely been around 277-279 against the dollar as Pakistan moves forward with its plan to win a longer and larger International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme.

In a key development, the IMF said that it will continue to discuss policy goals and actions that could form the basis of a medium-term home-grown reform programme for Pakistan that could be supported under Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement with the Washington-based lender.

Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased by $16 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $9.4 billion as of July 5, data released on Thursday showed.

Globally, the US dollar was on the defensive, with the dollar index, which measures the US currency against six rivals, at 104.47, not far from the one-month low of 104.07 it touched on Thursday.

The US dollar slumped after data showed US consumer prices fell for the first time in four years in June, firmly putting disinflation back on track and drawing the Federal Reserve another step closer to cutting interest rates in September.

The US consumer price index (CPI) dipped 0.1% last month against expectations that it would rise 0.1%.

Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose on Friday amid signs of easing inflationary pressures in the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer, with Brent crude peaking above $86 though it was still set for a weekly decline.

Brent crude futures rose 72 cents, or 0.8%, to $86.12 a barrel by 0819 GMT.