- Rupee fell by 1.88 against greenback, closes at 299.01.Its previous record low was 298.93, which was hit on May 11.Analyst expects rupee to trade between 295 and 305 for time being.
Rupee plunged to a historic low on Tuesday, depreciating by 0.63% against the US dollar in the interbank market due to an easing in import restrictions that has lifted demand for the dollar.The local currency fell by 1.88 against the greenback and closed at 299.01 at the end of the day’s trading, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Its previous record low was 298.93, which was hit on May 11.
On Monday, the rupee closed at 297.13 against the dollar as compared to Friday’s close of Rs295.78.
Head of research at Arif Habib Tahir Abbas said he expected the rupee to trade between 295 and 305 to the dollar for the time being.
“The declining trend is mainly attributable to the ease off in the import restrictions coupled with clearance of backlog for goods and services,” he said.
He added that multinational corporations were able to repatriate some profits, furthering rupee outflows.
Commenting on the development, AA Commodities Director Adnan Agar told Geo.tv that the rupee depreciation is mostly due to political reasons as there are fears of a delay in the general elections, consequently delaying the fulfilment of commitments from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other global lenders.
“When the political uncertainty continues, with a caretaker setup in power, questions like who will invest and lend the money to the country arise,” he said.
Agar added that this is the reason for the rupee’s losses and it will remain the same until or unless there is clarity on the political situation.
