Staff Reporter
The rupee touched a new all-time low of Rs174.43 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday in the wake of mounting pressure of import payments as well as looming uncertainty regarding a delay in the International Monetary Fund’s decision regarding resumption of $6 billion Extended Fund Facility.
The rupee has maintained the downtrend for the past five months. It has lost 14.55% (or Rs22.16) to date compared to the 22-month high of Rs152.27 recorded in May.
With a fresh decline of 0.25%, the rupee has depreciated 10.72% (or Rs16.89) since the start of the current fiscal year on July 1, 2021, data released by the central bank revealed.
“Rupee is expected to remain under pressure if IMF-Pakistan talks remained inconclusive,” currency traders forecast, as they believe, the massive depreciation of rupee against dollar was also caused by the panic buying and forward booking by the importers because of fears of a possible failure of IMF-Pakistan talks.
Traders also held higher imports coupled with rising commodity prices in the international markets re-sponsible for strengthening the dollar against the rupee.
