Rupee falls further

The rupee fell for the fifth straight session on Thursday due to dollar demand from importers, dealers said. It lost 60 paisas and closed at 158.48 against the greenback, compared with the previous closing of 157.88 in the interbank market.

Dealers said the domestic currency was under pressure, as importers bought dollar to meet their payments.

“The rupee is expected to weaken slightly in the coming week on the back of continued dollar demand from importers,” a dealer said.

The rupee also continued to drop against the dollar in the open market; following losses in the interbank dealings. The rupee was 0.75 percent lower at 159.70. It ended at 158.50 on Wednesday.

The latest IMF’s staff report on Pakistan has provided some certainty to the investors on the macroeconomic front, including

quarterly adjustment of utility rates, monetary tightening and the FBR’s tax collection target.

Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves increased to $15.434 billion from $14.443 billion as of June 28, while the forex reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan reached $8.263 billion, compared with $7.272 billion after the IMF disbursement.

The IMF extended arrangement is expected to fetch the total financing of around $38.6 billion over the three years from the country’s international partners.