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KARACHI, (MANEND NEWS): After holding ground for two days, the rupee fell against the dollar in the interbank market on Friday on an uncertainty surrounding the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme, dealers said.
The local unit ended at 224.94 per dollar, compared with Thursday’s close of 224.71. It declined by 0.10 percent on a day-on-day basis. However, in the open market, the domestic currency finished at 234 to the dollar, unchanged from the previous close.
“The rupee lost some ground versus the US currency as investors were concerned about delays in the 9th review of the IMF bailout package,” said a foreign exchange dealer.
Dwindling foreign reserves and slowdown in workers’ remittances also weighed on the rupee, he added.
Pakistan and the IMF have been holding talks virtually but differences persist over tax collection targets, and non-starter energy reforms including hiking of gas tariff, rising circular debt, and expenditure overrun, making consensus harder to strike on a staff-level agreement in the context of the 9th review under $7 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). “The government is faced with severe challenges in fiscal/external account management in FY2023 and we expect FX reserves and rupee situation will remain bleak through FY2023 and beyond, until political and economic stability is provided,” an analyst at Optimus Capital in a report said.