Rupee punches US dollar after IMF deal

F.P. Report

KARACHI: After the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to add $2bn to the ongoing loan programme for Pakistan, the US dollar Monday lost Rs1.20 initially against the Pakistani rupee and at the closing time it reached Rs186.05 of the interbank trading.

The previous week saw a swift increase of US currency value as it closed at Rs186.70 against the Pakistani rupee.

The Pakistani rupee saw a rise in value after the new coalition government was formed on April 11. But last week the Pakistani rupee was thrashed by the US dollar amid the rise in demand locally.

Now, on the first business day of the week, the Pakistani rupee finally bounced back with the US dollar losing value of Rs1.20 to reach Rs185.50.

The economists termed the IMF deal progress wherein, the global Monterey body extended the loan porgramme for another year to prop up Pakistan’s balance of payments position and foreign exchange reserves. 

Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said on Sunday that Pakistan had asked the IMF to enhance its bailout package from the remaining $3bn to $5bn.

Nathan Porter, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission Chief for Pakistan, issued the following statement: “We had very productive meetings with the Finance Minister of Pakistan Miftah Ismail over Pakistan’s economic developments and policies under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program.”

The statement reads, “The IMF expects to field a mission to Pakistan in May to resume discussions over policies for completing the 7th EFF review. The authorities have also requested the IMF to extend the EFF arrangement through June 2023 as a signal of their commitment to address existing challenges and achieve the program objectives.”