KARACHI: The rupee continued to lose ground against the US dollar on Thursday, as the greenback reached an all-time high of Rs192 in the interbank market.
According to the Forex Association of Pakistan, the dollar breached the 191-mark at the day’s start and soared to Rs192.20, appreciating by Rs2 from the previous day’s close of 190.20 — the record high value for the dollar before today’s session.
The freefall of the rupee against the dollar has also been attributed to the country’s high import bill as well as delay in the release of a $1 billion tranche by the International Monetary Fund which has impacted the economy.
The rupee had been losing its value due to an uncontrolled rise in imports and a relatively slower pace of growth in exports as the trade deficit reached $39 billion in July-April.
On the other hand, the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday also plunged for a second consecutive day as the benchmark KSE-100 index shed more than 500 points during intraday trade.
The market opened at 42,863.15 points and the KSE-100 index gained 63.81 points to rise to the day’s high of 42,927.96 around 9.30am, only to sharply decline to 42,621.51 points. Soon after noon, the index fell after losing 549.16 points from the day’s opening value.
The decline comes just a day after the PSX witnessed a meltdown during which the KSE-100 lost 1,100 points in intraday trade.
