April,12(A. E Report)——Pakistani rupee recovered some ground against US dollar a day after plunging to all-time lows by appreciating 0.63% in inter-bank market Wednesday.
According to State Bank(SBP), local currency settled at 286.62 with an increase of Rs1.81.
That comes a day after where rupee dipped to a new all-time low against the US dollar, settling at 288.43 in the inter-bank market after a loss of Rs1.34 or 0.46%.
Market experts attributed the fall towards lack of developments on the resumption of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, which has remained stalled since last year. Resumption of the IMF program is crucial for cash-strapped South Asian economy, which is battling high inflation and low foreign exchange reserves.
In a key development, IMF in its latest report, the World Economic Outlook (WEO), revised downward the GDP growth rate projection for Pakistan from 2% to 0.5% for the current fiscal year, i.e., 2023. The Fund projected a rise in inflation from 19.9% to 27.1% and unemployment from 6.2% to 7%.
Internationally, the US dollar slipped on Wednesday ahead of a closely-watched inflation reading later in the day that will provide clues on the path of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
Following last week’s solid US jobs data, all eyes are now on the inflation report, with currency moves subdued ahead of the release.
Against a basket of currencies, the US dollar index fell 0.05% to 102.07.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, edged up on Wednesday as the market waited for US inflation data later in the day that will likely influence the Federal Reserve’s policy on future interest rate hikes.
Pakistan Rupee Exchange Rate