Straight fourth session: Rupee continues to depreciate against US dollar

• Rupee closes at 218.89 after depreciating 0.21%.
• Analysts believe rupee is experiencing technical correction.
• Rupee is expected to remain rangebound in ongoing week.

KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee continued to depreciate against the US dollar for the fourth consecutive session in line with the forecast of the financial pundits and analysts.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the rupee closed at 218.89 after depreciating Rs0.46 or 0.21% against the greenback compared to Friday’s close of 218.43.

Analysts said that the local unit will remain rangebound in the ongoing week, depending on the demand for greenback by importers as the central bank has started to clear pending letters of credit.

The market is expected to keep an eye on any assistance from multilateral lenders in the form of finance pledges following the cataclysmic floods in Pakistan.

Currency dealers believe, the rupee — that staged a 13-day-long rally — is now experiencing a “technical correction”.

“We expect that the rupee will trade range-bound in the upcoming days. While inflows appear to be weaker as exporters are not in the desire to sell dollars in the forward market aggressively, the demand for dollars from importers is expected to stay robust now that the import backlog has been cleared,” a currency dealer said.

Since the start of the fiscal year 2022-23, the rupee has lost Rs14.04 or 6.85% against the US currency — which leaves its imprint on every corner of the global economy as it is the currency in which vital raw materials are bought and sold.