KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee continued to strengthen against the US dollar for the seventh consecutive session during intraday trade in the interbank market on Wednesday.
The market remained closed for two days Muharram Holidays and as it opened today (Wednesday), the rupee gained 2.51 against the dollar and was trading at 221.49 as of 11:15am.
The greenback has lost Rs17.94 since its peak of Rs239.94
On the other hand, Pakistan Stock Exchange also witnessed a bullish trend on first working day of the week as KSE-100 index gained 640 points. The benchmark index was being traded around 42,735 points.
Apart from all positive cues, the latest development that played a factor in the rupee’s appreciation includes the announcement that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intends to invest $1 billion in Pakistani enterprises.
Last week, the UAE said it plans to invest $1 billion in Pakistani enterprises in a variety of economic and investment areas as the country navigates a tough economic situation.
When it comes to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) programme revival, the lender’s Executive Board will meet on August 24 to consider Pakistan’s request to approve the Extended Fund Facility.
But the IMF has asked Pakistan to ensure a financing gap of $4 billion as a condition for the programme’s revival, which the government is trying to arrange from friendly countries.
Pakistan’s powerful quarters have approached US officials, as well as officials from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UAE to get the necessary financial backing for the revival of the delayed IMF programme.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Acting Governor Dr Murtaza Syed, in an interview with The News, had said Pakistan will soon bridge its external financing gap of $4 billion.
Syed said Pakistan has already managed gross external financing requirements of $34 to $35 billion but in addition, Islamabad is making efforts to get confirmation of $4 billion inflows from friendly countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar.
However, the acting SBP governor was reluctant to share any time frame for bridging the financing gap of $4 billion. He said that it would be managed soon.
Pakistan is desperate to get loans as the country’s foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP continue to decline. On July 29, the forex currency reserves held by the central bank were recorded at $8,385.4 million, down $190 million compared with $8,575.16 on July 22.
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