Rupee gathers pace as it pushed US dollar down Rs198 mark

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: The winning streak of the Pakistani rupee has gathered further pace on Wednesday as it pushed the US dollar down the Rs198 mark in a flash in intrabank trading.

The Pakistani currency roared hard as the business opened and rocketed up by 96 points within no time.

The US dollar plummeted to Rs197.50 in early trading, the forex dealers said.

The previous day’s close of the greenback was Rs199.06.

Rupee which has been struggling against the US dollar for the last three weeks gained strength when the government in order to get revived 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 whooping 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.”