ISLAMABAD – In a surprising development on the economic front, the Pakistani rupee witnessed a sudden spike against the US dollar in the open market, despite uncertainty looms.
During the trade, the greenback hovered between 295-300 in open-market, as the high-flying currency plunged from 311-314.
Experts claim that the rupee’s positive trajectory comes as the country’s central bank allowed commercial banks to get dollars from the interbank market for the settlement of card-based cross-border transactions with the International Payment System.
In a notification, the State Bank of Pakistan said “In view of representations received from stakeholders, it has been decided to allow authorised dealers to purchase USD from interbank for settlement of card-based cross-border transactions with IPS [such as Visa, Mastercard etc].”
The notification was applicable with immediate effect and would remain in place till July 31, 2023, the SBP said.
Earlier, authorised dealers were only allowed to purchase USD for such transactions from exchange companies.
Following the tweak, the demand for the US bank in the open market dried out, which also dented the huge demand.
