Rupee ends weaker against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee fell slightly against the dollar in the interbank market on Monday. The rupee closed at 278.17 per dollar, down from 278.11 on Friday.

“The dollar demand from importers to make payments typically increases at the beginning of the week, therefore the local unit fell slightly. Demand from importers exceeded inflows from exporter dollar sales and remittances, a currency dealer said.

Traders were awaiting the interest rate decision to get clues about the future direction of the rupee. At its meeting on Monday, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) cut the policy rate by 200 basis points to 13 per cent.

The current account continued to improve and posted a surplus of $0.2 billion during July-October FY25, driven by robust workers’ remittances and strong export performance. Exports grew by 8.7 per cent, mainly driven by HVA textile, rice and POL exports, the SBP said in a monetary policy statement. “At the same time, favourable global commodity prices helped contain the import bill despite a sizeable increase in import volumes,” it said.

“Supported by narrowing the gap between interbank and open market exchange rates and enabling policies, workers’ remittances remain strong. The surplus in the current account, along with the improved foreign investment inflows, helped build up the SBP’s FX reserves, despite weak official inflows,” it added.