Stocks sink to 28-month low

KARACHI: Stocks on Monday sank to a 28-month low breaching 37,000 points’ level as the meltdown continues without a respite with investors freaking out over the government’s butterfingered handling of the country’s economic situation that was worsening faster than ever, dealers said.

Topline Securities in its daily market review said reports, claiming IMF was expecting Pakistan’s inflation to average 14 percent by June 2019 and policy rate at 15 percent, panicked investors across-the-board. “In the wake of increasing scarcity of dollar-denominated injections from international donors, the government will have to arrange $2-$3 billion of stopgap financing from friendly countries, in the coming weeks, to avert further deepening of the economic crisis before an IMF bailout is approved,” the brokerage said.

Meanwhile, the rupee fell one per cent against the US dollar in the interbank on Monday, after a mild recovery from a recent freefall. Rupee ended at 133.25/dollar, edging back towards Thursday’s low of 133.80, in the interbank market.