PKR Gains Further Ground 6th Day in a Row Against US Dollar

The Pakistani rupee posted gains 6th day in a row against the US Dollar today after opening trade at 279 in the interbank market. It was largely stable against the greenback during intraday trade and hardly parried any movement throughout the session after briefly touching 280 at 12:55 PM. The interbank rate later dropped back to 279 before closing at the same level for the remainder of the day. Open market rates across multiple currency counters were stable in the 278-280 range today. At close, the PKR appreciated by 0.04 percent to close at 279.67 after gaining 12 paisas against the dollar today. The rupee closed in the green 6th day in a row today. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, it has so far appreciated by 2.25 percent. Overall, the rupee is down nearly Rs. 60 since January 2023. Since April 2022, it is down over Rs. 107 against the greenback. As per exchange rate movements seen today, the PKR has gained 12 paisas against the dollar. In a key development, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) announced that it was introducing a Centralized Foreign Exchange (FX) Trading Platform called ‘FX Matching’ for interbank FX market in line with Vision 2028 for building an innovative and inclusive digital financial ecosystem as a key priority area. The objective is to provide the interbank market participants a centralized trading platform that offers FX trading on an anonymous basis and real-time price visibility. The PKR was green against most of the other major currencies in the interbank market today. It gained three paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), three paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), 21 paisas against the Australian Dollar (AUD), 71 paisas against the British Pound (GBP), and 82 paisas against the Euro (EUR). Meanwhile, it lost 20 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD) in today’s interbank currency market.