Rupee loses ground ahead of PTI’s long march

KARACHI: In view of the rising political temperature and uncertainty in the county ahead of the PTI’s long march to Islamabad, the Pakistani rupee maintained its losing streak against the US dollar for the second consecutive session in the interbank market on Thursday.

The local currency closed at Rs220.68 after depreciating by Rs0.95 or 0.43%, compared to Wednesday's close of 219.73.

The rupee snapped its gaining streak as the currency market didn’t react positively to the news of receiving inflows from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) into the country.

Pakistan received $1.5 billion from the ADB last night, however, the much-awaited loan failed to currency market players.

Speaking to Geo.tv, Pakistan-Kuwait Head of Research Samiullah Tariq said that the rupee movement is market-determined, so the supply drives the demand.

He added that there is a bit of pressure from the imports and the political uncertainty impacted the currency.

The PTI will begin its march towards Islamabad tomorrow from Lahore which would trigger further political and economic uncertainty.

“The outlook for the rupee will depend on the political climate. However, another inflow from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) may improve sentiment,” he added.