KARACHI: On Thursday, the Pakistani rupee’s everlasting embarrassing performance against the foreign currency continued. The Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (Ecap) reported that local currency tanked by Rs18.74 in the interbank market. In the morning, the US dollar was trading at Rs284.85.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the dollar closed at Rs266.11 on Wednesday. The local currency is facing a steep decline in value due to a delay in the finalisation of the deal between Pakistan and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Some sources said the deal would have been finalised by February 28, 2023. However, Pakistan is unable to convince the global financial institution to release the loan tranche.
Pakistan under economic crisis
Pakistan is facing a severe economic crisis, as its reserves are depleting with every passing day. The reserves have dropped to around $3 billion which will only cover imports for three weeks. The situation indicates that Pakistan desperately needs the deal with the IMF and convince it to release the $1.2bn loan tranche.
In addition to that, the country would need friendly countries and other multilateral lenders to provide loans and financial help if it is to avert the looming and what at the moment seems an impending economic disaster in the name of economic default.
