Rupee depreciated by ten percent in the past 100 days

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KARACHI: The rupee has witnessed a ten percent decline against the dollar during the past 100 days.

The rupee, which was standing on Rs105 about three and a half months ago, spiralled down to Rs115 on Tuesday. 

Rs105 After depreciating from Rs105 to Rs115 against the greenback on Tuesday from the level of Rs105 about three and half a month ago.

On Tuesday the rupee fell by four percent — the second largest decline during the past 100 days. After suffering from a devaluation of 4.43 rupees, the currency stood at 115 rupees to the dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market at the close of business. 

A spokesman of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said that the central bank was vigilantly monitoring the currency's position.

The spokesman attributed the currency's depreciation to external payment pressure. They informed Geo News that the flexibility in the exchange rate was driven by the market's sentiment.

Foreign exchange experts, however, attributed the rupee's depreciation to an increasing current account deficit.

Speaking about the market's situation, Economic Analyst Asad Rizvi said that foreign exchange reserves were under pressure due to external payments. He stated that the country was to pay 200-250 million dollars per week.

Pakistan’s total external loans stand at 88.89 billion dollars, of which, loans obtained by the government amount to 70.51 billion dollars, said Rizvi.

With the latest depreciation of the local unit, the total loans of the country have increased to 10.2 trillion rupees. The impact of the currency's depreciation is around 393 billion rupees.

A currency market analyst, Mohammad Sohail, told Geo News analyst termed the appreciation in the dollar as a 'welcome step' in light of the country's balance of payments.