Rupee stable

The rupee maintained its firmness against the dollar in the interbank market on Tuesday, traders said. The rupee closed at 141.39 against the greenback, unchanged from the previous close. Dealers said the currency was stable due to normal dollar demand from importers.

However, the rupee gained 10 paisas against the dollar in the open market. It finished at 142.20 to the greenback, compared with 142.30 in the previous session.

Pakistan is expected to sign up the International Monetary Fund bailout package in an effort to ease pressure on the balance of payments. The IMF mission is scheduled to visit Islamabad next week to discuss the final details of the programme.

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves dropped to $16.195 billion during the week ended April 12, compared with $17.228 billion in the previous week.

The foreign currency reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan fell $1.028 billion to $9.243 billion due to payments on account of external debt servicing, including principal repayment of $1 billion against Eurobond.

"The rupee was flat today, as it has been for the last few days. It is attributed to no extra supply in the market based on what’s the IMF condition will be, till then it seems on the same level," a forex dealer said.