$ 1.5 bn fished out of Pakistan in last 3 wks; USD escalates to Rs. 166
KARACHI: Pakistani Rupee (PKR) has depreciated by Rs. 4. 40 to Rs. 166 against the US Dollar (USD) in the inter bank market on Thursday. This is the lowest figure in the past nine months.
Although the coronavirus has halted imports and exports temporarily, this fall is primarily the result of dollar flight worth USD 1.5 bn over the past 3 weeks as Foreign holdings in Pak T-Bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) were sold off due to the coronavirus fears. Overall tremendous investment from stocks have migrated back from the country’s stock exchanges.
Over the past one month, the rupee lost Rs. 12 from a Feb 28 level of Rs. 154.23.