KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee continued to depreciate against the US dollar on Friday, losing value for a sixth straight session as the nation’s economy continues to be negatively impacted by severe flooding.The local currency was trading at 229.50, down from yesterday’s closing of 225.42, when it dropped Rs2, after losing 4.08 in intraday trade on the interbank market.
Since the start of this week’s trade, the Pakistani rupee has depreciated by a total of 8.14 percent versus the US dollar and appears to be following the same pattern as two months ago, when the local currency reached a high of 239.37 on July 28.
Currency traders claim that the pressure on the rupee is caused by a lack of dollars on the market since demand for the dollar has increased after the government lifted the import ban on luxury items.
They also pointed out that, similar to the growth in imports, remittances and exports did not rise to the necessary level, disrupting the dollar’s supply-demand equilibrium.In addition to this, the dollar’s global strengthening is causing it to appreciate against the rupee.
After reaching a high of 110.79 on Wednesday, a level not seen since June 2002, the US dollar index, which compares the value of the dollar to six significant rival currencies, rose 0.04% to 109.73.
