Islamabad May 11 2023: Pakistan Rupee continue to slip from lowest level in interbank against the Greenbank on increase in political temperature in the country due to arrest of main opposition party key leadership after the arrest of Imran Khan.
Pakistan Rupee is fall 7.55 or 2.6 percent to trade at 297.77 against the dollar in interbank (PST 13:20). Yesterday, rupee was closed at record low of 290.22 after falling PKR 5.31 or 1.9 percent in interbank. In open market, Dollar increased by 9 Rupees as dealers are buying dollars at 301.9 and selling it at 305.15 (PST 13:20).
Moreover, the dollar index – which measures the greenback against a basket of six major peers, including the yen, euro and sterling – edged 0.05% higher to 101.46. The dollar found its feet on Thursday while the Chinese yuan dipped to a two-month low after more evidence of weakness in China’s post-COVID recovery clouded the outlook for the global economy, as per Reuters.
However, KSE-100 Index gains 257 points or 0.6 percent to trade at 41,332 points (PST 12:40) on Thursday.
IMF remains engaged with Pakistan on securing funding and policy assurances with the goal of reaching an agreement on the ninth review of the $6.7 billion loan agreed in 2019, IMF spokesperson said in an emailed response to Bloomberg questions.
Pakistani authorities arrested a senior leader of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party on Thursday as the government deployed the army to help end deadly unrest sparked by Khan’s arrest three days ago. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who served as foreign minister in Imran Khan’s cabinet during his four year premiership, was arrested overnight, a statement on his Twitter profile said. Two other senior leader of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Asad Umar and Fawad Chaudhry, were also arrested on Wednesday.
Pakistan could default without an International Monetary Fund bailout as its financing options beyond June are uncertain, Moody’s Investor Service said two days earlier.
“We consider that Pakistan will meet its external payments for the remainder of this fiscal year ending in June,” said Grace Lim, a sovereign analyst with the ratings company in Singapore. “However, Pakistan’s financing options beyond June are highly uncertain. Without an IMF program, Pakistan could default given its very weak reserves.” Pakistan is struggling to restart a $6.5 billion bailout program from the Washington-based lender, which has stalled after the government failed to meet some loan conditions.
