Pakistan’s rupee registered a marginal decline against the US dollar in the inter-bank market, and depreciated 0.33% in the opening hours of trading on Wednesday.
At around 11:10am, the rupee was being quoted at 220.45, a depreciation of Re0.74 or 0.33% against the greenback, during intra-day trading.
On Tuesday, rupee registered a decline for the fifth straight session against the US dollar, and closed at 219.71 after depreciating Reo.82 or 0.37%.
As per market experts, the weakness in the local currency is attributable to dwindling reserves and absence of confirmations of foreign inflows.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that the rupee has been “heavily undervalued”.
“It is due to speculation — and some players in the market have been responsible for that,” he added.
Globally, the dollar hung close to a 32-year peak versus the yen on Wednesday while edging up from a two-week trough against a basket of major peers as traders weighed improved risk sentiment against the prospect of aggressive Federal Reserve rate hikes.
The dollar- index which measures the currency against six peers including the yen, sterling and euro – edged up to 112.01, after dropping to the lowest since Oct. 6 at 111.76 overnight.
oil prices a key determinant of currency parity, rose in early Asian trade on Wednesday, paring losses from the previous session, as concern over tight supplies following reports of lower inventories in the United States offset fears of lower demand from top oil importer China.
