Islamabad: The Pakistani rupee’s (PKR) freefall against the US dollar continued in the interbank market on Friday as it further depreciated by more than Rs5.22 to reach an all-time low.
At the end of today’s session, the State Bank of Pakistan reported, the local currency dropped by Rs5.22 or 1.89% to settle at Rs276.58 against the greenback.
Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for todayhttps://t.co/22WDdOJ0oq pic.twitter.com/tgYeO2B6hC
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) February 3, 2023
The local currency had closed yesterday’s session at Rs271.36. However, it remained under pressure against the greenback following Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s comments that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was giving Pakistan a “tough time”.
Bloomberg reported that the local currency and dollar bonds declined after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s statement.
“As we speak, an IMF delegation is in Islamabad [holding talks on loan program] and giving a very tough time to the finance minister and his team,” the prime minister said while speaking at the Apex committee meeting in Peshawar.
“I will not go into detail about this further but our economic challenges are unimaginable,” he noted.
The premier said that the IMF conditions, which Pakistan has to fulfill, were beyond imagination, but they had to accept them.
