Rupee posts slight gains against dollar

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee closed slightly higher against the US dollar in the interbank market on Friday.The rupee ended at 278.58 per dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 278.61.In the open market, the rupee stayed flat, trading at 280.18 against the dollar, unchanged from the previous close.

According to dealers, the rupee gained little ground because of the persistent increase in workers’ remittances and the mild dollar demand from importers.During the six months of the current fiscal year, remittances from Pakistanis employed abroad increased by 33 per cent to $17.8 billion from $13.4 billion during the same period last year.

In December, the amount of money the overseas Pakistanis sent home climbed by 29.3 per cent year over year to $3.1 billion. These inflows increased by 6.0 per cent month over month.However, in the week ending January 3, the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $15 million to $11.695 billion. The nation’s foreign reserves decreased by $31 million to $16.378 billion, while the reserves of commercial banks dropped by $16 million to $4.683 billion.