On Tuesday, the Pakistani rupee fell nearly Rs1.64 against the US dollar to Rs205.50 in the interbank market during the day.
The currency hit an all-time low of Rs203.86 per dollar on Monday, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
Interbank closing #ExchangeRate for todayhttps://t.co/T39dvLv98n pic.twitter.com/rVQMdAIsoX
— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) June 13, 2022
The local currency fell to an all-time low against the US dollar as the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $6 billion loan programme was delayed.
However, China’s $2.4 billion in financial assistance, combined with Finance Minister Miftah Ismail’s constant assurances of economic stability, temporarily halted the rupee’s slide.
Today̵7;s rupee decline was in line with market expectations, with dealers expecting the domestic currency to fall further if Pakistan fails to persuade the IMF of its budget proposals.
The Fund had previously stated that additional measures would be required to bring Pakistan’s budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 in line with the key objectives of its IMF programme.
On Friday, Pakistan unveiled an Rs9.5 trillion Pakistani ($47 billion) budget for 2022-23, aimed at tight fiscal consolidation in order to persuade the IMF to resume much-needed bailout payments.
“Our preliminary estimate is that additional measures will be needed to strengthen the budget and bring it in line with key programme objectives,” Esther Perez Ruiz, the lender’s resident representative in Islamabad, told Reuters.
