Karachi: The Pakistan Rupee extended its flight against the US dollar for the ninth consecutive session as it gained Rs 3.39 against the greenback in the interbank market on Friday.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, towards the end of the session, the PKR appreciated by 1.57pc to close at Rs 215.49.
Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for todayhttps://t.co/uHHCiI3l0c pic.twitter.com/V1ebbrvyQc
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) August 12, 2022
The week opened on Wednesday on a positive note after Ashura holidays on Monday and Tuesday. During the week, the local currency opened from last Friday’s Rs 224 against the US dollar.
After gaining Rs 8.5 and appreciating by 3.9pc the markets closed at Rs 215.49,
The improvement in the market, according to analysts, is driven by clarity on the deal between Pakistan and the IMF, whose executive board is set to meet later in August.
Pakistan receives Letter of Intent from IMF
A big sigh of relief, as Pakistan received the Letter of Intent (LOI) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday.
The LOI is a preliminary document that declares one party’s intention do business with another – in this case, the IMF and Pakistan.
According to media reports, the receipt of LOI signifies that Pakistan’s deal with IMF to release two tranches worth $1.17 billion under a stalled loan facility is getting closer to the finish line.
The letter will now be jointly signed by Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and Acting State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor Murtaza Syed.
The development came weeks after the Fund and Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement in mid-July to complete the combined 7th and 8th reviews of Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with an increased size of $7 billion.
The timing of the LOI could not be any more appropriate when Pakistan’s reserves fell to an alarming level of a three-year low of $7.8 billion.
Shrinking forex reserves
The rupee’s recovery comes amid the shrinking forex reserves, which further dipped to the lowest level since October 2019.
Read: Pakistan’s reserves fall below $8 billion; lowest since Oct’19
In alarming news, the State Bank of Pakistan notified that the foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan fell below $8 billion and clocked in at $7.83 billion – the lowest since October 2019.
According to the weekly report on forex reserves published by the SBP, the total forex reserves held by the Central bank plunged to $555 million as of August 5, 2022, from $8.385 billion as of July 29 – an alarming 6.7pc drop.
During the same period under review, the net reserves held by the commercial banks also dropped by $92.5 million to $5.731billion from $5.823 billion.
Cumulatively, the total foreign exchange reserves dipped by $648 million to $13,561 from $14,209 during the period week ended on August 5.
The SBP, in a statement, said the reduction in the reserves of Pakistan was due to external debt payments.
“Debt repayments are expected to moderate during the next three weeks of this month,” the central bank said. “In fact, around three-fourths of debt servicing for the month of August was concentrated during the first week.”
