Dubai: The Pakistan Rupee has been at 50-plus levels to the UAE dirham after dropping to a new low on Tuesday, recording an exchange rate that got more remittance-friendly for expats in the UAE.
As the currency markets take stock of the current political developments, the currency's value had plunged more rapidly than in the weeks before. The currency has been range-bound in the Rs50.10 to Rs50.30 range versus Dh1. Check the latest forex rates here.
Dubai-based currency traders have been foreseeing some sizeable remittance activity these days as for the better part of last month, the Pakistan rupee was in the plus 48 range against the UAE dirham and holding up despite the uncertainties created for emerging market currencies by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
New low
The Pakistani rupee on Tuesday plummeted to an all-time low against the US dollar, trading at Rs185.40 in the interbank market during intraday trading, up Rs1.31 from 184.09 on April 1. The local currency surpassed the 185-mark for the first time in the history of Pakistan, said Geo News.
Weakness in the Pakistan rupee's value against the US dollar will be automatically reflected in its exchange rate with the UAE dirham as the UAE currency is pegged to the dollar. In recent days, the Pakistan currency came under renewed pressure over the political situation leading up to the no-confidence motion against the government.
It has declined by nearly Rs7 against the greenback in the last month. The Pakistani rupee has maintained its slump mainly because the US dollar is gaining strength against other major global currencies for the past few days. But the recent decline came on the back of the uncertain political situation and stalled IMF programme, as mentioned above.
IMF flux
Pakistan-Kuwait Investment Company Head of Research Samiullah Tariq said: "Pakistani rupee is depreciating because of uncertainty regarding the continuity of the IMF programme, which is dependent on the formation of the caretaker government."
On Monday, the IMF had assured that it would continue to provide support to the "new formed government" and will involve in policy talks with them to enquire about their intentions about the loan. Meanwhile, other currency dealers said the rupee is expected to remain under pressure in the ongoing week on the political showdown in the country.
According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the buying and selling rates of dollar in the open market were recorded at Rs184.5 and Rs185.7 respectively.
- with inputs from Agencies
