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Thursday March 28, 2024

Rupee strengthens

By Our Correspondent
July 10, 2020

KARACHI: The rupee extended gains for a second consecutive session on Thursday due to lower dollar demand from importers and increased supplies, dealers said.

Rupee closed at 166.58 to the dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 166.76 in the interbank foreign exchange market.

In the open market, the rupee ended at 166.80 against the dollar. It had ended at 167.05 versus the greenback.

Dealers said local unit gained value as the dollar demand by importers and firms remained suppressed. Furthermore, dollar selling by exporters also helped the rupee appreciate further during the session.

“We expect the rupee to appreciate a bit in the coming sessions because of reduced dollar demand and healthy supplies,” said a currency dealer with a commercial bank.

“The rupee may trade in the range of 166.35 to 166.45 per dollar on Friday,” the dealer added.

Increase in the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves would help the domestic currency remain stronger against the dollar next week, according to dealers.

As of July 3, foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan surged by $0.8 billion to $12.042 billion. The reserves are enough to cover 2.8 months of imports.