Dollar upward march continues as rupee touches 200 

Karachi: The Pakistani currency touched a critical threshold of Rs200 in the open market against the US dollar during intraday trading after shedding Rs2 on Wednesday (today), mainly due to the country's depleting foreign exchange reserves and high imports.

Dollar busts previous record as the rupee was quoted at 197.50/ 197.90 (10:56 PST) against the previous day’s close of PKR 195.74. 

In the interbank market, PKR continues to be on slippery ground with a fresh decline of Rs2.1 plunged to yet another historic low of Rs197.25 against the greenback— despite suspected intervention by the central bank. 

Finance experts regard this downfall of local currency due to two main reasons. First, due to uncertainty regarding the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme. And secondly, due to the depleting foreign exchange reserves. 

Moreover, an absence of direction from the government on significant economic policies as well as an unstable political situation in the country, has also led to an upward trend in the US dollar rate. 

Experts stated that the surging dollar and gloomy macros will continue to put pressure on the local unit. 

In the meantime, Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are scheduled to begin review talks in Doha today for a week to discuss the release of the remaining $1 billion tranche under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).