Dollar closes at 110.42, gains 5.6 pc against Pakistani rupee in 2017

KARACHI (APP): The rupee throughout the 2017 gave resistance against any downward movement but fell prey to heavy debt repayments and fewer foreign investment trickling into the country.

The dollar started the journey around 104.60 rupee and closed around 110.42, showing a gain or nearly 5.6 percent or in simple words the domestic currency weakened by the same amount in 365 days.

The rupee shed weight during July 5 of the same year and ended at Rs 108.25 which generated lot controversy because on the same session the central bank defended the fall in currency, saying that currency was down because of the whopping current account deficit which reached to second time high market because of widening of trade deficit.

Trade deficit during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017 widened by 32 billion dollars, which also the biggest deficit the country incurred in the history.

However, intervention from the then finance minister Ishaq Dar clipped the decline but following the cases against him knocked at NAB, things reacted differently and rupee again succumbed to daily demand of importers and payments on external fronts.

The rupee made heavy dents in almost four sessions it lost more than five percent. The outlook of 2018 appear to be gloomy as the country need more than 6 billion dollars to be paid in six months ending June 30, 2018 while another three to four billion dollars might be required from July to December 2018.

“It would be anybody’s guess what would be the true realistic value of rupee would be but the market talk reveal that the currency in next six to eight months might settle between Rs 112 to Rs 118 to a dollar, if the country receive good amount of foreign investment, another series of bonds to be sold in global capital market, privatization of some units, assistance from World Bank and Asian Development or help from China, things would be little different”, said an analyst.