KARACHI: The rupee’s value plunged again on Wednesday with the local currency closing at a record low of Rs283.92 per dollar in the interbank market, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
The local unit has depreciated by 37 paisa against the US dollar in today’s interbank session as the currency settled the trade at PKR 283.92 per USD compared to yesterday’s closing of PKR 283.55 per USD. The local unit traded in a band of 90 paisa today with an intraday high bid of 284 and low offer of 283.40. In the open market, PKR was traded at 283/286 per USD.
Recently, the IMF asked the government to resubmit the complete plan for petrol subsidy as the initial version of the proposal was rejected. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had announced a relief package for the poor that included a subsidy of Rs50 per litre of petrol for those with low-income who own small vehicles such as motorcycles, rickshaws and 800cc cars.
The currency lost 56 paisa to the Pound Sterling, closing at PKR 349.9 per GBP. The EUR closed at PKR 307.51 at the interbank. In FYTD, PKR has lost 79.06 rupees or 27.85%, while it has plummeted by 57.48 rupees or 20.25% against the USD in CYTD. In the last seven sessions, the local unit has moved down by 0.25%.