Rupee snaps losing streak

KARACHI: The rupee rose on Wednesday, snapping two sessions of losses due to some respite in dollar demand from importers and healthy supplies.

In the interbank market, the rupee closed at 167.25 per dollar, 0.23 percent or 38 paisas stronger than its close of 167.63 on Tuesday. The rupee gained 50 paisas to close at 168.20 against the dollar in the open market.

Dealer cited dollar selling from exporters and remittance inflows helped improved supplies in the market.

“The rupee’s persistent fall in the previous sessions was driven by higher dollar demand from importers to settle payments and weak inflows," a foreign exchange dealer said.

“Today, the demand was muted as importers had covered their payments, which pushed the rupee up against the greenback.

Dealers didn’t suspect the central bank’s intervention to defend the currency. Since there is a market-based exchange rate regime, the currency moves are determined by the demand and supply factors.

The rupee is likely to be stabilising at the current levels. It is expected to be in the 167.30-167.60 band in the coming days, they said. The government is concerned over the rising imports, especially the non-essential imports as they are putting pressure on the external current account. Import payments stood at $6.5 billion in August.