WEB DESK
The new year did not prove to be as happy for the Pakistani rupee as it hoped after it lost around 0.22% in value.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan on Tuesday afternoon, the rupee finished weaker at the end of the first session of the new year compared to the last value it closed at in 2022.
On Monday, the rupee opened at Rs226.43, the value at which it had closed on Friday, December 30, 2022.
During intraday trading, the rupee remained under pressure and lost around 51 paisas to close at Rs226.94.
Major pressures on the rupee remained due to the falling reserves of the central bank which, per data released last week, had fallen below the level of reserves held by commercial banks.
Last calendar year, the rupee had lost around Rs50.63 in value, thanks to the machinations of Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar after the dollar value had risen to an all time high of nearly Rs240 during the year.
The government has already decided to undertake emergency measures to prevent the further flight of dollars from the country by clamping down on smuggling of dollar and use of illicit money transfer services such as hawala and hundi.
Earlier during early trade in the inter-bank market, the price of a single US dollar increased by 83 paisas over Friday’s close to rise to Rs227.25.
