Rupee posts 9th straight loss vs dollar

The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank rose $14 million in a week, the central bank said on Thursday, but the rupee remained under pressure and fell for the ninth consecutive day in the interbank market to close at 283.43 against the dollar. According to the SBP data, its reserves increased $14m during the week ending Oct 27 to $7.51 billion, though the bank did not specify the contributing factors. The uptick came after the central bank’s foreign currency holdings plummeted $220m in the previous week to $7.49bn — the lowest weekly position since mid-July when a big financial boost from the IMF and friendly countries doubled the central bank’s reserves to $8.73bn. Meanwhile, on Thursday, a team from the International Monetary Fund arrived in Islamabad to discuss the next tranche of a short-term loan that helped rescue the country from near default.