Rupee remains flat

The rupee traded almost flat against the dollar on Wednesday, amid soft dollar demand from importers, dealers said.

The rupee closed at 155.88 against the greenback, compared with the previous closing of 155.87.

In the open market, the rupee ended unchanged at 155.95 versus the dollar.

“There was not much of a demand for the greenback during the day. So, we witnessed the currency maintaining firmer trend,” a dealer at a big commercial bank said.

The rupee traded in the range of 155.82 and 155.95 against the dollar.

Dealers said a narrowing current account deficit means that the local currency could gain value in the days ahead.

The current account deficit narrowed to $1.548 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year from $4.287 billion a year ago.

The central bank’s foreign exchange reserves remained stable to stand at $7.813 billion during the week ended October 11, compared with $7.757 billion in the previous week.

Remittances rose to $1.747 billion in July-September fiscal year 2020 from $1.486 billion in the corresponding month last year.

The World Bank declared Pakistan among top 20 reformers, as Islamabad clinched top position among South East Asian economies, including India that made improvements on four reforms and Bangladesh three.