KARACHI: Pakistan’s national currency on Monday broke a three-day losing streak and posted a recovery of 0.72 percent against the United States (US) dollar, currency dealers and analysts said, after the finance minister’s meetings with heads of banks and exchange companies over the weekend.
The Pakistani currency rose by Rs1.58 as the greenback closed at Rs220.89 in the interbank market. The local currency had lost Rs1.79 during the last three trading sessions, from Wednesday till Friday.
“The weekend meetings of finance minister with CEO and Presidents of commercial banks and also with heads of foreign exchange companies has boosted investor confidence, that is reflected in today’s rupee appreciation,” Samiullah Tariq, a research director at the Pakistan-Kuwait Investment Company, told Arab News.
Analysts say Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China this week and the depreciation of the real effective exchange rate (REER) also contributed to the rupee’s recovery.
Pakistani equities also closed bullish on Monday, with the benchmark index gaining 124 points to close at 41,264 points.
“Stocks closed higher amid thin trade as investors weighed strong rupee recovery on improving trade balance and speculation over easing political crises,” said Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Karachi-based Arif Habib Corporation brokerage firm. “The likely flood-loss support receipts from the World Bank and surging global equities played a catalyst role in the positive close.”
