Rupee extends gains

The rupee traded stronger for the second straight session on Thursday helped by dollar inflows from remittances ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramazan.

It went up Rs1.42 paisa to end at 148.21 to the dollar, up from Wednesday’s close of 149.63 in the interbank market.

“The currency faced volatile trading at the opening of the market. It traded in the range of 148.20 and 148.60 during the first session,” a forex dealer said. “However, the rupee ended higher due to improvement in supply of dollars amid remittances.”

Dealers expect further rise in workers’ remittances and positive sentiments would add gains to the rupee this week. Remittance flows increased 8.45 percent to $16.481 billion in 10 months (July-April) of the 2018/19 fiscal year.

The rupee also rose in its value against the dollar in the open market trade. It increased to 149.30/dollar from 150 in previous session.

Market participants attributed appreciation in exchange rate in the open market to upward currency trend in official market.

“The rupee is boosted by gains in interbank market,” said Zafar Paracha, the secretary general at Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan. “Increasing remittance inflows and dollar selling by exporters supported the rupee to appreciate,” he added.

Paracha also said that people have stopped buying excessive dollars from the kerb market, which has eased pressure on the rupee.