Pakistani rupee pushes US dollar down towards Rs197 mark

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: The winning streak of the Pakistani rupee has continued to maintain its momentum on Thursday also as it was pushing the US dollar down towards Rs197 mark in intrabank trading.

The US dollar lost 47 paisas in its value and reached Rs197.40 at the start of the interbank trading on the second-last day of the current business week.

On Wednesday, the Pakistani currency roared hard all day along by rocketing up by nearly one rupee but settled at 59 paisas up as the business closed. The US dollar plummeted to Rs197.87 in the intrabank trading, the forex dealers said.

The rupee, which had been struggling against the US dollar for the last three weeks, gained strength when the government in order to revive its loan programme with the IMF started implementing its directives and heavily increased the prices of petroleum products on Thursday last. The government announced a whopping increase of Rs30 per lire in the prices of petroleum products.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had delayed the revival of the stalled $6-billion programme under the External Financing Facility (EFF) for Pakistan. The Fund, in a statement, emphasised the abolition of subsidies on petroleum products and electricity, among other conditions, as a prerequisite for the programme’s revival.

But later, following the conclusion of the talks, IMF Mission Chief for Pakistan, Nathan Porter, said the Fund held constructive discussions with the Pakistani officials, which aimed at reaching an agreement on policies and reforms. “Mission has held highly-constructive discussions with Pakistani authorities aimed at reaching an agreement on policies and reforms that would lead to the conclusion of the pending seventh review of the authorities’ reform programme, which is supported by an IMF Extended Fund Facility arrangement.”