KARACHI: The US dollar took a u-turn on Friday, depreciated the local currency and destabilized the exchange rate that had been in favour of rupee for the last three months.
Finance Minster Ishaq Dar’s statement that the dollar would be kept around Rs98 to support the export industry created panic-like situation in the inter-bank market.
The greenback appreciated by over one per cent in just one session from Rs96.70 to Rs97.70. Exporters are seeking compensation from the government for the loss they had to incur due to sudden fall in value of dollar.
While yields on export proceeds fell significantly due to over 9pc deprecation in a few months, some exporters who were reluctant to bring back millions of dollars in the hope to earn more also faced huge losses.
Bankers said that importers rushed to book the dollar as much as possible before it reaches the border line of Rs98 set by the finance minister.
There is no doubt that the line drawn by the minister played a key role in boosting sentiments in favour of dollar and importers demand was due to this change in the strategy, said Atif Ahmed, a currency dealer in the inter-bank market.
