Rupee ends slightly weaker

KARACHI: The rupee closed marginally weaker on Thursday as importer dollar demand outpaced remittance inflows, dealers said.

Local unit ended at 159.30 per dollar, compared with Wednesday’s close of 159.13 in the interbank market.

“There were some important payments in the market, but dollar supplies were not sufficient to match the demand,” said a dealer at a large bank.

“Usually inflows are higher before Eid-ul-Azha as overseas Pakistanis send money to their families to buy sacrificial animals,” he added.

Dealers said they expected the rupee to remain range-bound in the coming sessions, depending on the level of importer appetite for the greenback and inflows to be available in the market. However, the rise in the foreign exchange reserves is likely to help ease some burden from the market.

The central bank’s forex reserves rose to $18.2 billion as of July 13 after it received $1 billion government’s tap offering of its recently issued Eurobonds.

The market has been waiting for the fiscal year 2020/21 current account data, which would provide more clarity over the rupee’s direction in the future. The current account posted a surplus of $153 million in July-May FY2021, compared with a deficit of $4.328 billion in the same period last fiscal year.

In the open market, the rupee ended slightly lower at 159.70. It finished at 159.60 in the previous session.