KARACHI: Rupee slipped 1.27 percent (-Rs2.31) against the US dollar for the eighth straight week due to political uncertainty in the country and surging oil and commodity prices globally amid Russia-Ukraine war.
The rupee slipped from 181.72 to Rs184.09 against the American currency in the interbank market last week. The rupee set two all-time lowest levels of 178.63 and 178.61 against the US dollar during the week. The rupee has set 15 all-time lowest levels in the interbank market against the greenback during the last 17 sessions.
Overall, the rupee shed Rs2.31 during the last five days of this week, while the local unit devalued by Rs26.66 during the ongoing fiscal year 2021-22 and Rs7.64 during the current year 2022. Within the open market, the rupee fell from 182/183 to 184.50/185.50 per dollar during the week.
The rupee remained on the back foot throughout the week, depreciating by 41 paisas (-0.23 percent) on Monday, 15 paisas (-0.08 percent) on Tuesday, 30 paisas (-0.16 percent) on Wednesday, 84 paisas (+0.46 percent) on Thursday and 61 paisas (-0.33 percent) on Friday.
According to currency dealers, political instability in the country, lingering talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and higher commodity prices in the global market have badly hit the stability of the rupee in the interbank. They said that political uncertainty has created a negative sentiment overall for the economy and this has been negatively impacting the rupee value against the dollar.
They also attributed import payments as a factor contributing to fall of the rupee. They said the pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves pushed by draining of dollars from stocks and government securities has also played havoc with the rupee value.
The SBP reported a day earlier that foreign exchange reserves of the country dropped by $2.9 billion (13.48 percent) on a week-on-week basis to reach $18.55 billion. According to the SBP data, the foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased to $12,047.3 million, down by $2,915 million on repayment of external debt, while net reserves held by commercial banks amounted to $6,507.2 million.
