Rupee likely to remain stable

The rupee is expected to stay flat next week, driven by sluggish dollar demand, traders said. “The rupee is forecast to hover around the current levels of 124.20/25 against the dollar in the coming week,” a trader said.

“The currency may appreciate in a near-term due to optimism about improvement in the balance of payments.”

The government is set to issue $1 billion worth of overseas Pakistanis savings certificates next week that could boost investor sentiment.

The government has started chalking out its strategy to fix the underlying economic issues.

The government on Saturday reconstituted the Economic Advisory Council to take the input of the experts on its economic policies.

Analysts expect the PTI government will have to take tough decisions to pull the country out of balance of payments crisis. The federal finance minister Asad Umar said that a decision to go to the International Monetary Fund would be made after a debate in the Parliament.

He revealed that Pakistan obtained $70 billion loan during the last five years while $49 billion loans were paid back.

The rupee traded in a narrow range of 124.19/24 against the dollar in the interbank market during the outgoing week.

The currency remained stable due to increase in Eid-related remittance flows from overseas Pakistanis workers.

Further, there was no payment pressure on the rupee during the week. The rupee traded at 124.30/50 to the dollar in the open market.