Rupee gains

KARACHI: Pakistani rupee continued its upward trajectory on Wednesday, appreciating by 1.13 rupees or 0.65 per cent against the dollar in the interbank market, as the country inches to revive the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme.

The rupee closed at 173.76 to the dollar, compared with Tuesday’s close of 174.89. It strengthened by 0.87 per cent during last three sessions. In the open market, the rupee gained Rs1.2 to close at 175.80 per dollar.

Dealers said healthy supplies helped the rupee to continue its flight. “Importer demand was there but supplies were enough to cater that," said a foreign exchange dealer.

"It seems that agreement is going to reach on all longstanding issues with the IMF as the PM's Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin assured implementation of five prior actions to meet the IMF’s conditions," he added.

Dealers envisaged that Pakistan would accomplish the major prior actions to sign the IMF deal under ‘Extended Fund Facility’.

“The rupee is likely to gain more in coming sessions on the back of positive sentiments, “ one of them said.