Dollar continues rally for fourth successive session, closes at Rs218.89

KARACHI: The US dollar maintained its upward trajectory against the Pakistani rupee for the fourth consecutive session in the interbank market on Monday.

The rupee closed at 218.89 after depreciating Rs0.46 or 0.21% against the greenback compared to Friday’s close of 218.43, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported.

Analysts predicted that the local unit will remain rangebound in the ongoing week, depending on the demand for greenback by importers as the central bank has started to clear pending letters of credit.

The market is expected to keep an eye on any assistance from multilateral lenders in the form of finance pledges following the cataclysmic floods in Pakistan.

Currency dealers believe, the rupee — that staged a 13-day-long rally — is now experiencing a “technical correction”.

"We expect that the rupee will trade range-bound in the upcoming days. While inflows appear to be weaker as exporters are not in the desire to sell dollars in the forward market aggressively, the demand for dollars from importers is expected to stay robust now that the import backlog has been cleared,” a currency dealer said.

Since the start of the fiscal year 2022-23, the rupee has lost Rs14.04 or 6.85% against the US currency — which leaves its imprint on every corner of the global economy as it is the currency in which vital raw materials are bought and sold.