Rupee declines

The rupee extended losses against the US dollar on Friday, closing at Rs158.67 to a dollar, as demand from importers remained higher.

A dealer said importers had to make payments for their Ramazan deliveries, due to which the rupee closed at Rs158.67, compared with the Thursday’s closing of Rs158.57.

Meanwhile, in the open market, the dollar buying and selling was recorded at Rs158/Rs159.50. A trader said imports from China and other regional countries had reduced, and they had to make imports from Europe and US.

“Europe and US origin goods are costlier than the Chinese goods; therefore, we

need more dollars to make these import payments.”

An analyst said importers had held their dollar purchase on the expectations of significant cut in the policy rate. However, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) opted to cut only 75 basis points to bring the policy rate at 12.50 percent.

Currency experts; however, believed the massive decline in international oil prices and slowdown in the outflow of hot money invested in domestic debt market would help the rupee stay stable in the coming days.

The foreign investors take out $47 million by selling treasury bills on March 17. In contrast, the total outflow during March 1 to 17 was at $1.17 billion.