Rupee ends flat

The rupee on Friday ended almost flat at Rs156.15 to the dollar from the previous day’s closing of Rs156.19 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

Dealers said rupee edged up amid fewer import payments and increased dollar supply. The rupee has been supported recently by foreign inflows, especially loans from Middle Eastern countries, though remittances from overseas Pakistani fell 17.11 to $1.690 billion in August 2019 from $2.039 billion in July.

Dealers said the rupee was expected to remain range-bound in coming days and added that a steady inflow of dollars, especially in the form of export receipts, is likely to help the rupee avoid a sharp fall despite steady rising dollar demand. In the open market, the exchange rate witnessed stable value of the local currency. The buying and selling of the dollar was recorded at Rs155.80/Rs156.30, the same previous day’s level, Forex Association of Pakistan said.

The SBP further reported that in interbank the price of Euro depreciated by Rs 0.13 and traded at Rs170.63 against the last closing of Rs171.76. The exchange rate of Japanese Yen shed 01 paisa and was traded at Rs 1.44 against Rs1.45, whereas decrease of Rs 0.57 was witnessed in exchange rate of British Pound which was traded at Rs191.90 as compared to last closing of Rs 192.47. Exchange rates of UAE Dirham dipped by 01 paisa whereas Saudi Rayal remained unchanged and were traded at Rs 42.51 and Rs 41.63 respectively.