Rupee extends losses for second straight day

KARACHI: The rupee extended losses for the second consecutive session on Wednesday due to dollar demand from importers, dealers said.

In the interbank market, the rupee ended at 278.4 to the US dollar, compared with Tuesday’s closing value of 278.37.Dealers said that the rupee steadily declined as dollar demand surpassed inflows from export proceeds.

The rupee fell by five paisas to settle at 280.25 against the dollar in the open market.Market participants expressed alarm over Pakistan’s growing trade deficit annually and on a month-on-month basis in June. Based on the most recent trade balance statistics, they were concerned that the current account gap would be much larger in June.

Pakistan posted a $270 million current account deficit in June.The country’s trade deficit narrowed by 12.32 per cent to $24.089 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24 buoyed by a rise in exports, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

Exports rose by 10.54 per cent to $30.645 billion in FY24. Imports fell by 0.84 per cent to $54.734 billion.But in June, the deficit increased to $2.390 billion, up 30.39 per cent from a year earlier. In June, the deficit increased by 15.13 per cent on a month-on-month basis.By year-over-year comparison, imports rose by 17.43 per cent to reach $4.919 billion in June. Exports increased by 7.34 per cent to $2.529 billion.