PKR downslide continues with Rs7 loss in interbank

After plunging to a record low last week, the PKR depreciated by another Rs7.03, closing at Rs269.63 per dollar in the interbank market on Monday, according to data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). This equates to a loss of 2.61 per cent from Friday’s close of Rs262.6. Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (Ecap) General Secretary Zafar Paracha attributed the rupee’s depreciation to a shortage of dollars. “The supply of dollars has not been restarted. We do not know where the banks will get the supply from but there is no arrangement,” he said. He was referring to the SBP deputy governor’s assurance to exchange companies’ representatives in a meeting last week that commercial banks would be directed to supply dollars to the change companies. “There is a lot of panic in the market. If dollars are received, it will cool down a bit. As long as the market doesn’t settle, people will not sell their remittances or export proceeds,” Paracha said. The Ecap general secretary criticised the government for delaying the decision to remove an unofficial cap on the exchange rate, saying it had worsened the situation. “The policy should not be dictated by a finance minister’s mood,” he said.