PKR rebounds to 278.33 vs USD

KARACHI
Pakistani rupee snapped a three-day losing streak against the US dollar in the interbank market and appreciated by 17 paisas on Friday.
According to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee opened at 278.50 against the greenback in the interbank market and closed at 278.33, going up by 0.06 percent.
The rupee depreciated by 29 paisas during the previous three sessions.
Overall, the rupee lost 12 paisas this week. During the previous week, the rupee closed unchanged at 278.21 against the US dollar as compared to the week earlier when the local unit had stood at the same level.
In a related development, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP decreased by $63 million on a weekly basis, clocking in at $9.09 billion as of May 24, data released on Thursday showed.
Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $14.31 billion.
Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.22 billion. The central bank cited external debt repayments as the reason for the decrease in the foreign currency reserves. Last week, Pakistan’s central bank reserves increased by $22 million.
Meanwhile, the Karachi Interbank Offered Rate (Kibor) dropped sharply on Thursday following the treasury bills auction held on Wednesday last. The benchmark 6-month Karachi Interbank Bid and Offer rates dropped by 18 basis points (bps) to 20.08 percent and 21.07 percent.
The three-month Kibor saw the maximum decline of 25bps to 20.84 percent and 21.09 percent. The auction saw a fall in cutoff rates across all tenors, with the decline going as much as 60bps.
The market has renewed its bets for a rate cut by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), which has maintained the policy rate at 22 percent since June 2023, ahead of the upcoming monetary policy meeting. The central bank is scheduled to meet on June 10 to announce its next decision.