The Pakistani rupee has strengthened for the 10th consecutive day against the US dollar.

     Today, the Pakistani rupee started at 296 against the US dollar in the interbank market. By noon, it had a bullish trend, reaching as high as 294, marking a gain of approximately Rs. 2 against the dollar. Subsequently, the interbank rate settled around 295 between 1:30 PM and 2:30 PM. Open market rates, which were at 338-335 on Monday, fluctuated in the 294-298 range throughout the day. Since September 4, the open market rate has significantly strengthened by about Rs. 44 against the US dollar. Ultimately, the PKR closed at 295.94, appreciating by 0.3 percent and gaining 90 paisas against the dollar for the day.

    The markets rebounded positively in the new week, ignoring the previous week's sharp increase in petrol prices to Rs. 331.38 and a significant rise in high-speed diesel prices to Rs. 329.18 per liter. The gap between interbank and open market rates has substantially reduced by approximately Rs. 44 in September, with rates fluctuating from 294 to 299 during the week. However, the Pakistani rupee has depreciated by nearly Rs. 75 since January 2023 and over Rs. 122 since April 2022 against the US dollar, despite gaining over 90 paisas against the dollar in recent exchange rate movements. Notably, Pakistan's Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) declined by 1.5 percentage points to 90.1 in August 2023. This suggests that exports are currently offering favorable returns, but the normalization of production and export growth may take some time following the removal of import restrictions by the federal government three months ago.

    In the interbank market today, the Pakistani Rupee (PKR) showed strength against several major currencies. It gained 24 paisas against the Saudi Riyal (SAR), 24 paisas against the UAE Dirham (AED), 69 paisas against the Canadian Dollar (CAD), Rs. 2.52 against the British Pound (GBP), and 75 paisas against the Euro (EUR). Furthermore, it surged by Rs. 1.24 against the Australian Dollar (AUD) in today's interbank currency market.