US dollar reaches record high in interbank, closing at Rs215.20

Islamabad: The dollar continued its relentless upward march against the rupee on Monday with the greenback gaining Rs4.25 in interbank trade.

According to the Forex Association of Pakistan, the dollar was trading at a record Rs216 against the local currency at 3:12pm, up Rs5, or 2.4 per cent, from Friday’s close of Rs210.95.

The dollar eventually closed at Rs215.2, with the local currency depreciating 1.97pc, according to data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

https://twitter.com/StateBank_Pak/status/1548997552166641664

Similarly, the price of the euro was increased by Rs7.66 and closed at Rs218.23 against the previous day’s closing of Rs211.57.

The Japanese Yen gained 04 paisa to close at Rs1.55, whereas an increase of Rs7.60 was witnessed in the exchange rate of the British Pound, which was traded at Rs257.24 as compared to its last closing of Rs249.64.

The exchange rates of Emirates Dirham and Saudi Riyal increased by Rs1.12 to close at Rs58.58 and Rs57.30 respectively.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Secretary General Asad Umar lashed out at the government for its failure to rein in the fast depreciation of rupee against dollar.

In a statement on Monday, Asad said that Pakistan suffered the most due to the poor decisions of the imported government, as Pakistani rupee hit a new low against the US dollar.

He attributed the rupee free fall to the political uncertainty, which he said was bleeding the economy and inflicting tremendous pain on the people. “Time to stop this badly conceived, badly executed and totally gone wrong experiment,” he added.