Business

Rupee snaps 13-day winning streak against dollar

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Rupee closes at Rs217.88 against US dollar.
Drop in inflows changed sentiment in interbank makret.
Analyst says next direction could be news driven — good or bad.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s currency depreciated 0.04 % (or Rs0.10) to Rs217.88 against the US dollar in the interbank market on Wednesday, ending its appreciation streak that continued for 13 consecutive working days.

The local currency had closed near a one-and-a-half-month high at Rs217.79 on Tuesday, according to the central bank.

It regained a cumulative 10.01% (or Rs21.92) in the past 13 successive working days till Tuesday, dropping close to the all-time low of Rs239.94 last month.

The currency on Wednesday recorded its first depreciation in the past two weeks after worker remittances slowed down 12.3% year-on-year to $2.4 billion and export earnings in September.

The drop in inflows changed sentiment in the interbank market and encouraged importers to buy dollars at the prevailing rate before it became expensive.

Earlier, the rupee emerged as the best-performing currency in the world last week after it notched up one of the largest gains of 3.9% in the week ended October 7 compared to all other currencies on the Bloomberg terminal.

The excessive supply of dollars in the market helped the rupee to stage a 13-day-long rally. However, the supply of foreign currency decelerated after the sluggish data on worker remittances.

Economic analyst Ali Khizar noted that the appreciation trend of the local unit is “arrested” as it closed within a range of 217.8-218 in the last three working days.

PKR/USD appreciation trend is arrested- it closed at 217.8-218.0 in the last three working days

In this week, the inflows in the form of exporters selling in forward and incremental remittances have declined significantly.

Next direction could be news driven – good or bad. pic.twitter.com/lkVlMm8K8m
— Ali khizar (@AliKhizar) October 12, 2022

“In this week, the inflows in the form of exporters selling in forward and incremental remittances have declined significantly,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that the next direction could be news driven — good or bad.

Business

Pakistan Desires a Sturdy, Long-Term Alliance With Huawei: PM

Published

7 hours ago

Bilal

According to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, the government’s primary objective is to give Pakistani youth technical training in the field of information technology.

The prime minister expressed his desire for a strong and long-term collaboration with Huawei in an interview with a five-member delegation that visited him in Islamabad and was led by Huawei CEO Ethan Sun.

He said the Huawei’s ICT training program will not only increase it exports but will also help youth in getting job opportunities.

The meeting was briefed on the progress made in providing training in the it sector to 300,000 pakistani youth organized by Huawei.

Out of 300,000 youth, 240,000 youth will be provided basic training while 60,000 youth will be provided high-tech training.

Business

The IMF allows Pakistan to lower electricity tariffs.\

Published

7 hours ago

Bilal

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has permitted the Pakistani government to decrease the energy cost by one rupee.

The alleviation will be incorporated into the base tariff for electrical units, with funding sourced from revenue collected by the levy on captive power plants. A tax has been enacted on the utilization of gas by captive power plants.

The government is developing a relief plan for electricity consumers, which will be announced upon clearance from the international lender.

Business

Robust purchasing sustains PSX’s positive trend

Published

7 hours ago

Bilal

On Thursday, bullish momentum continued in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 index reaching 118,806 after an increase of over 300 points.

Across the board buying was observed in key sectors, including commercial banks, fertiliser, power generation, and oil and gas exploration companies.

Aside from that, index-heavy equities such as MARI, POL, HBL, MCB, UBL, KOHC, and LUCK experienced gains, capitalizing on the prevailing bullish atmosphere in the market.

Market analysts attribute the recent bullish trend in the PSX to a staff-level agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistani authorities following the initial review under Pakistan’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and a new arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

Furthermore, a recent study done by the Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) regarding the feasibility of the Reko Diq project in Balochistan has also conveyed favorable indications to investors.

The bulls surged rapidly after the staff-level deal with the global lender, with the KSE-100 Index reaching a peak of 118,220 before closing at 117,178 points, reflecting an advance of 1,139 points on Wednesday.