Rupee falls for second day

KARACHI: The rupee continued its downward trend on Tuesday for the second straight session due to an uptick in demand for dollars from importers and a decrease in inflows from exporters, dealers said.

The local unit ended at 278.39 to the US dollar in the interbank market, up 10 paisas, or 0.03 percent, from the previous close of 278.30.“As exporters' sales of US dollars slowed and importers purchased dollars to cover their payments, the rupee declined in value against the US currency,” said a foreign exchange trader.

In the open market, the rupee gained 11 paisas to close at 279.43 per dollar. The rupee is expected to stay stable in the coming days. As the best-performing currency in Asia, the Pakistani rupee gained 2.9 percent against the US dollar so far this fiscal year. The Sri Lankan rupee also saw an increase in value against the US dollar, rising by 2.8 percent.

Pakistan last month completed the International Monetary Fund’s short-term stand-by arrangement programme, which helped stave off sovereign default. The IMF loan and external funding from other bilateral and multilateral sources, coupled with import restrictions, contributed to the improvement in the foreign exchange reserve position and current account balance.