KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee broke a stability streak and lost 51 paisas to hit an all-time low against the dollar in the interbank market on Monday.
The greenback reached a historic high of Rs169.6 at the close of Monday’s trading session, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s data. It stood at 169.08 at the end of last week.
The last time the Pakistani currency touched a record low was on September 15, dropping to Rs169.12 against the dollar.
With the fresh fall of 0.31 percent, the rupee has cumulatively lost 11.38 percent (Rs17.33) of its value since May 14, when the US dollar was as low as Rs152.27.
Pakistan’s currency traders and analysts blame a rising import bill and the Afghanistan situation among other factors for the ongoing depreciation of the national currency.
“Due to higher commodity prices, supply chain bottlenecks and uncertain situation in Afghanistan, demand for US dollar is higher than supply,” Samiullah Tariq, the Pakistan-Kuwait Investment Company’s head of research, told Geo.tv news website.
The country’s central bank has also stayed away from the currency market, saying it wants to adhere to a market-based exchange rate policy. Previously, the SBP used to sell dollars in the market to stabilize the currency.
As the central bank was following a flexible exchange rate, the exchange rate parity was going in favor of the US currency due to higher demand, Tariq added.
Pakistani rupee hits new all-time low against dollar
https://arab.news/mpp99
Pakistani rupee hits new all-time low against dollar
- Greenback closes at historic high of Rs169.6
- Rupee has cumulatively lost 11.38 percent since May 14
Pakistan to sign preferential trade agreement with Russia during Sharif’s upcoming visit — envoy
- Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif plans to visit Russia on March 3-5, Russian state news agency RIA reported this month
- Islamabad will also organize Russia-Pakistan Business Forum, which will have participation from more than 100 Pakistani firms
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is seeking to sign a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Russia to boost bilateral trade volume during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s upcoming visit to Moscow, Pakistan’s ambassador to Moscow has said.
Pakistani Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi said this during the Moscow-Islamabad media forum, which was hosted by Sputnik ahead of Sharif’s scheduled visit to Moscow next month.
Pakistan and Russia, once Cold War rivals, have strengthened ties in recent years. In 2023, Islamabad began purchasing discounted Russian crude oil banned from European markets over Ukraine war, and also received first shipment of liquefied petroleum gas from Moscow.
The volume of Russia-Pakistan trade rose more than 100 percent to $1.81 billion from July 2023 till June 2024, though it experienced slight contraction in the last fiscal year, according to officials.
“Once the prime minister is here, we will start the process of signing PTA with the Eurasian Economic Union and the Russian Federation,” Tirmizi said at the forum.
Pakistan and Russia are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and security organization, and have had sustained high-level interactions and institutional mechanisms in recent years.
PM Sharif plans to visit Russia on March 3-5, Russian state news agency RIA reported this month, citing a Pakistani official.
Tirmizi said Russia-Pakistan ties were not only strategic or bilateral, but they had commercial, people-to-people and business dimensions as well.
“I am very happy to announce that Pakistan is also organizing the second Russia-Pakistan Business Forum during this visit,” he said.
“Over a hundred companies, hundred leading companies are coming from Pakistan to interact with the Russian partners.”
