The rupee continued its recovery against the dollar on Wednesday, making modest gains during interbank trade.
The greenback was trading at Rs201.45 around 11:50am after losing 55 paisa against the local currency against the previous day’s close of Rs202. By closing time on Wednesday, the greenback had lost Rs2 and was being traded at 200.
Data released by the State Bank of Pakistan showed the dollar closed at Rs201.52.
Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan General Secretary Zafar Paracha identified the rejection of reports by the government and SBP about authorities intending to place restrictions on foreign currency accounts as a reason behind the greenback’s transient decline.
He further said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed the SBP to take action against banks involved in “satta bazi” (speculation), which had led to a significant decline in the dollar’s rate and stabilisation of the exchange rate. Mettis Global also reported in the morning that analysts had attributed the rupee’s recovery to an SBP “meeting with commercial banks on exchange rate destabilisation”.
