Rupee falls for second consecutive session

KARACHI: The rupee extended losses against the dollar for a second straight session in the interbank market on Tuesday.

The rupee closed at 277.83 to the dollar, compared with Monday’s close of 277.78.

The rupee also lost ground in the open market. It was trading at 278.74 per dollar, down from 278.71 in the previous session.

Dealers said the rupee maintained its downward trend due to increased dollar demand from importers and sluggish supplies from exporters.

On Monday, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) cut interest rates for a straight fourth time. It lowered its key interest rate by 250 basis points (bps) to 15 per cent. The current account posted a surplus for the second consecutive month in September 2024; narrowing the cumulative deficit to $98 million in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the SBP monetary policy statement said.

Robust workers’ remittances and higher exports helped contain the deficit. These developments, along with the receipt of the first tranche under the IMF programme, helped in the further build-up of the SBP’s FX reserves to $11.2 billion as on October 25, 2024, it noted.d exports will help keep the current account deficit within the projected range of zero to 1.0 per cent of GDP,” it said.