Rupee maintains winning streak against dollar, closes at Rs221.94

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee on Thursday maintained its winning streak against the US dollar for the 10th consecutive session in the interbank market.

As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the local unit gained Rs2.19, or 0.90% against the dollar to settle at Rs221.94 in the interbank market.

“In my view, recent encouraging trade balance data, hopes from multilateral institutions of additional inflows supported the rupee,” said Samiullah Tariq, the head of research at Pak-Kuwait Investment Company.

“The 215-220 per dollar seems a good level,” Tariq said a day earlier.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s statement “the actual value of the rupee was less than 200 and it would be brought down, as it was currently undervalued” further bolstered the currency as the dollar sales by the exporters continued to underpin sentiment and improve supplies in the market.

The governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) informed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance that action would be taken against banks and forex exchange companies involved in creating volatility in the exchange rate upon the finalisation of the inquiry.

The committee wanted to know the names of the eight banks that were allegedly involved in speculation for making money and there was a considerable difference in dollar rate in the interbank and exchange companies rate.

The committee directed the SBP to take appropriate action against all the banks and exchange companies allegedly firing up exchange rate volatility.

The committee also asked the SBP to take exemplary action against banks and exchange companies involved in speculations to make a profit so that no one could dare to play with the economy of the country in the future.