Rupee weakens

KARACHI: The rupee ended weaker against the dollar in the interbank market on Monday due to renewed demand for the greenback from importers and corporates, dealers said.

The rupee ended at 166.63/dollar, compared with the previous closing of 166.35. Dealers said the local unit gave up gains it made in the previous sessions on increased import and corporate payments.

“We saw importers and domestic firms bought dollars to meet their obligations. Dollar demand is usually higher in the first two sessions,” a dealer from a local commercial bank said.

In the open market, the local unit closed lower at 166.90 against the greenback, compared with the Friday’s closing of 167.

Sentiment was also positive due to a considerable increase in workers remittances’ in July-June fiscal year 2019/20, dealers said.

“Market participants believe higher remittance flows will increase the dollar supplies and support the domestic currency in the coming sessions,” another dealer said.

“We see the PKR to gain value, hovering in the range of 165.50 to 166 levels in the interbank market in the days ahead.”

Money sent home by expatriate Pakistanis rose 51 percent to $2.466 billion in June from $1.636 billion in June 2019.