US dollar hits new high, exceeds Rs192

The depreciation of the rupiah continued against the US dollar on Thursday, as the greenback hit a record Rs192 in the interbank market.

According to the Pakistan Forex Association, the dollar topped 191 at the beginning of the day and climbed to Rs192.20 around 11:45, appreciating by Rs2 from the last day’s close of 190.20 — the highest value for the dollar before today’s session.

Asad Rizvi, Chief Treasury Officer at Chase Manhattan Bank, told Mettis Global that the Pakistani rupee had depreciated by almost nine percent against the dollar since the Russian invasion of Ukraine to “reach new historic troughs”.

He also stressed that the economic downturn and the rise in oil prices following the Russian offensive had also affected other currencies, including the Indian rupee and acceleration of inflation. And there was no “respite coming,” he said.

This free fall of the rupee to the dollar has also been attributed to the country’s high import bill and the delay in the release of a one billion dollar installment by the International Monetary Fund.

The rupee had fallen in value mainly because of an uncontrolled increase in imports and a relatively slower pace of export growth.

This led to a trade deficit of $39 billion from July-April.