Rupee inches up

The rupee ended slightly up on Friday on exporters’ dollar conversions and inflows from workers’ remittances, dealers said.

In the interbank market, the rupee inched up to close at 154.24 against the dollar, compared with the previous closing of 154.26. Dealers said the local unit gained slightly, as exporters converted the dollars, after remittances from overseas Pakistani workers increased supplies in the market.

The rupee traded as high as 154.20 against the greenback. The rupee; however, ended at 154.30 versus the greenback, slightly down from Friday’s closing of 154.25.

“The rupee is likely to stay range-bound in the coming days due to the lack of payments pressure and ample supply of the dollar,” a foreign exchange dealer said. “The market sentiment is also positive because of persistent build-up of the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves,” he added.

Pakistan’s forex reserves increased 0.67 percent, or $127 million, to $18.869 billion as of February 28. The forex reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan rose to $12.757 billion from $12.591 billion. Traders are optimistic that the declining yields on Pakistan Investment Bonds could pave the way for the potential interest rates cut in the monetary policy due this month.