The dollar crosses Rs. 206 mark as IMF loan facility delayed

The US dollar continued to show gains on Wednesday, reaching another record high of over Rs206 amidst growing demand for the negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the resumption of a 6 billion dollar lending program remain inconclusive.

The rise in the value of the dollar relative to the rupee now occurs on an almost daily basis.

Updates from Mettis Global – a web-based financial data and analysis portal – showed that the greenback has won Rs1.25 from the closure the day before Rs. 205.25 and made it to Rs206.50 at 11:40 a.m. The closing rate of the FAP is slightly different than that of the State Bank of Pakistan, which had a closing rate of 205.16 Rs205.

Meanwhile, the IMF’s lending facility has stalled since the beginning of April because negotiations with the international lender are still inconclusive the lender raised concerns about the fuel and energy subsidies introduced by the previous PTI government.

Pakistan signed an expanded USD 6 billion over 39 months with the IMF in July 2019. However, the fund halted the disbursement of approximately $3 billion when the previous government reneged on its commitments and announced fuel and energy subsidies.