The rupee recovered marginally against the dollar in interbank trade on Thursday as the government reached an employee-level agreement With the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the revival of the stalled loan programme.
According to the Forex Association of Pakistan (FAP), the greenback was trading at Rs 208.5 in the interbank market at 11:40 am, up from the previous day’s close of Rs 210.1.
However, it closed at Rs 209.8, reversing most of its earlier gains with the local currency. Overall, the rupee rose 0.14 per cent.
Earlier today, FAP Chairman Malik Bostan attributed the initial gains of Rs. “We are expecting to see further downside in the greenback, below Rs 200,” he added. don.com,
Boston also said that a reduction in the price of crude would help reduce the country’s import bill, which would ultimately lead to a reduction in inflation. “All this will relieve pressure on the economy,” he said, adding that the country has managed to “get out of danger”.
Meanwhile, analyst Komal Mansoor said the market expects the greenback to fall at or below Rs 205.
“Change will happen gradually. Right now, there has only been one employee-level agreement. I think the market will move when an executive level agreement is reached,” she said.
Director of Metis GlobalSaad bin Nasser, a web-based financial data and analytics portal, was, however, quick to add that the “correction was relatively small” due to the dollar’s “consolidating tendency”.
“The US dollar hit a two-decade high against a basket of currencies this week ahead of expectations of aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve given high inflation levels,” Nasser said.
imf agreement
Earlier today, the IMF confirmed that it has reached an employee-level agreement with Pakistan. The agreement was reached after the government met the IMF Demand That the country receives a primary budget surplus of Rs 152 billion to revive the bailout package.
one in Statement On its website, the fund said the settlement was subject to approval by its executive board.
“The IMF team has reached an Employee-Level Agreement (SLA) with Pakistani authorities to conclude a joint seventh and eight reviews of the Extended Funded Facility (EFF) supported programme. The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF’s Executive Board,” the IMF statement read.
It added: “Subject to board approval, approximately $1,177 million (SDR 894m) will become available, bringing the total disbursements under the program to approximately $4.2bn.”
The international moneylender said that a team led by Nathan Porter, the head of the IMF mission in Pakistan, has finalized discussions with Pakistan and is considering expanding its EFF, currently valued at $6 billion, by the end of June 2023. Also agreed to increase it. by $720m to expand its size to $7bn.
The decision was taken to support the implementation of the programme, meet Pakistan’s high financing needs in FY 2013 and catalyze additional financing, the statement said.