Pakistan’s rupee maintained its winning momentum against the US dollar in the inter-bank market, and gained 0.18% on Tuesday.
At around 2:10pm, the rupee was being quoted at 220.50, an appreciation of Re0.39 against the greenback, during intra-day trading.
On Monday, Pakistan’s rupee had ended its three-session depreciation run against the US dollar, and settled at 220.89 after an appreciation of Rs 1.58 or 0.72 % In October, rupee gained Rs7.56 or 3.3% against the US dollar.
The improvement comes following the finance minister’s meetings with key stakeholders, assuring ample liquidity in the market, experts say.
On Monday, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar in a video message made a number of key announcements.
The government announced to keep the price of petroleum products unchanged for the next 15 days, while the deadline to file income tax returns was extended to November 30.
Moreover, Dar also said that the government, after a discussion with the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), will clear the pending letters of credit (LCs) with the limit from November 1 being enhanced to $100,000 from the current $50,000.
Internationally, the US dollar eased back on Tuesday from a one-week top against a basket of major peers, as traders weighed what kind of message Federal Reserve officials will deliver at Wednesday’s monetary policy meeting.
The US dollar index – which measures the greenback against six rivals including the euro, sterling and yen – eased 0.12% to 111.41, eating into some of the 0.79% gains it made on Monday.
The index has fluctuated widely around the 112 level since its retreat from a two-decade high of 114.78 at the end of September.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, rose on Tuesday, paring losses from the previous session, as a weaker US dollar offset widening COVID-19 curbs in China that have stoked fears of slowing fuel demand in the world’s second-largest oil consumer.
