KARACHI: The freefall by Pakistani Rupee against US dollar continued unabated on Friday in the interbank market, trading at Rs266.6 per dollar at 10:32am, down Rs11.17 or 4.58 per cent from yesterday’s close, according to data shared by the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (Ecap).
Just yesterday, the local currency’s value declined by Rs24.54 to a record low of Rs255.43 against US dollar in the interbank, the largest single-day depreciation in both absolute and percentage terms since the new exchange rate system was introduced in 1999.
While in the open market, the PKR was changing hands at Rs265 per dollar in the open market at the same time. This equates to a depreciation of Rs3, or 1.15pc, over yesterday’s rate of Rs262.
Commenting on the situation, Ecap General Secretary Zafar Paracha said that while the central bank had assured that exchange companies would be supplied dollars, they were yet to receive them, adding that if supply was established and the government’s “complex” policies were corrected, the rupee’s devaluation may be stopped, he added.
