Islamabad: The improvement in the value of the rupee against the dollar in the country continued for the ninth consecutive day and increased by 3 rupees 28 paise in the interbank market.
According to the Forex Association of Pakistan, the rupee was trading at Rs 215.60 by 12:30 pm, up 1.49 percent since the market closed yesterday.
Saad Bin Naseer, director of Matts Global, said, “I think the appreciation of the rupee has happened because exporters who had dollar earnings abroad have now started repatriating their earnings in view of the appreciation of the local currency.” Is.
He said that on the other hand, the demand for dollars has decreased due to the government’s intervention to control imports.
However, Saad bin Naseer warned that any negative news on the political front could lead to a further fall in the rupee, adding that political stability is essential for the positive trend to continue, otherwise the rupee’s appreciation would come to an end.
Zafar Pracha, General Secretary of Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan also expressed the same views and said that the exporters had earlier stopped bringing their earnings to Pakistan but now they are transferring their dollars to rupees while facing the problem. Importers buying dollars with a view to the future have stopped doing so.
He said that as a result, there are sellers of dollars in the local market but no buyers.
He also credited the appreciation of the rupee to the State Bank of Pakistan, saying that it had largely controlled the wide gap between the dollar’s buying and selling rate and speculation by banks.
Zafar Pracha said that besides this, the country’s import bill had decreased in July and will decrease further in August as the country will not import oil, international prices of oil, coal, wheat and pulses have decreased. The import bill will also be lower.
He said that overall things are progressing positively and it seems that the pressure on the rupee will ease.
However, the general secretary of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan said that the value of the rupee is still not at a satisfactory level and for the long term, the rupee needs to trade at 160 rupees against the dollar. Submitted that the government needs to link imports with exports, link expenditure with income and give exemptions to overseas Pakistanis and exchange companies to discourage Handi/Hawala system.
According to Arif Habib Limited, the value of the national currency has increased by 9.3% in the last eight sessions.
Despite the recent trend, since the beginning of 2022, the rupee has depreciated by 19.36% against the US currency, since July 1, the rupee has depreciated by 6.41% against the US currency.
