Rupee gains ground against dollar

KARACHI: The rupee strengthened marginally on Friday driven by robust supplies from exporters converting dollars, coupled with steady foreign exchange reserves which boosted investor confidence.

In the interbank market, the rupee ended at 278.4 per dollar, up from its previous close of 278.6.Dealers said that the local unit recovered from the losses incurred in the previous two days and gained ground as dollar selling from exporters outpaced demand from importers.

In addition, Pakistan’s central bank foreign exchange reserves have been maintained at $9.4 billion over the past two weeks. This demonstrates the market’s strong supply of dollar liquidity, which supports the rupee.

In the open market, the rupee stayed flat and closed at 280.5 versus the greenback, unchanged from the previous close.In the upcoming sessions, dealers anticipate that the rupee will continue to trade in a range-bound manner against the dollar. On the other hand, the rupee’s short- to medium-term prospects hinge on the finalization of the new International Monetary Fund loan programme for Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb expressed optimism that negotiations with the IMF would result in an agreement on a $6 billion extended fund facility (EFF) this month, claiming that nearly all prior actions had been completed ahead of schedule and that an agreement had been reached in principle with all provinces regarding agricultural income tax.