Pak Rupee hits historic low, reaches at Rs. 225 against U.S dollar

ISLAMABAD, July 20: The US dollar on Wednesday showed no respite to the local currency and continued its upward trend to reach Rs225, an all-time high record, with an increase of Rs3.1 at interbank trading. The previous close of the US dollar on Tuesday was Rs221.99 with an increase of Rs6.79 before it touched the highest ever Rs224 mark with an appreciation of Rs9 against the Pakistani rupee during the interbank. In three days, the US dollar gained Rs9.8 against the local currency and gained over Rs40 since the coalition government assumed power. American currency closed at Rs221.99 with an increase of Rs6.79. Karachi Forex trader association said that political instability and foreign loan installment are playing important factors in US dollar flight. Experts said that the rupee has been seeing a decline due to panic buying of the dollar by banks in the interbank market and the panic has prevailed in the financial markets following fears of a possible change in the government in Punjab and Centre, especially after the by-polls on the province’s 20 seats. Not to forget that apart from others factors, the downgrading of Pakistan’s outlook from stable to negative by the Fitch rating agency further increased panic in the market yesterday. Earlier, Finance Minister Miftah Ismael said that Pakistan was likely to get $4 billion from friendly countries this month to bridge a gap in foreign reserves highlighted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Pakistan last week that would pave the way for a disbursement of $1.18bn. The board is also considering adding $1bn to a $6bn programme agreed in 2019. DNA