ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national currency on Wednesday recovered its value by 0.30 percent before closing at Rs197.87 against the US dollar in the interbank market, said the country’s central bank.
The rupee continued to depreciate until the end of the last week amid a rising current account deficit, depleting foreign exchange reserves and economic uncertainty about the revival of the International Monetary Fund loan program amounting to $6 billion.
The national currency hit a historic low of Rs202.01 against the US dollar last Thursday before the government decided to jack up petroleum prices to meet an IMF condition for the resumption of the loan facility.
“Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for [Wednesday],” the central bank wrote on Twitter while sharing the national currency’s closing rate of Rs197.87 along with the appreciation value of 0.30 percent on Thursday.
Over the weekend, Pakistan’s finance minister Miftah Ismail said the country expected to reach a staff-level agreement with the IMF next month to secure the revival of the bailout package and stabilize its cratering economy.
With a rising import bill and declining forex reserves, Pakistan desperately needs external finances to deal with one of the toughest economic challenges in its history that it is currently facing.
