On Friday, Pakistan finally received what many commentators hailed as a ‘breathing space for its embattled economy’ after months of uncertainty when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that its staff had signed off on a short-term $3 billion loan structured over a period of nine months. That the IMF preferred to give Pakistan, teetering on the brink, a new deal under the IMF’s Stand
The Pakistani rupee has lost over 125 per cent of its value against the US dollar, sliding from Rs125 per dollar in June 2018 to Rs285 per dollar in June 2023. Several key factors have contributed to this situation, including a substantial trade deficit, diminished foreign exchange reserves, reduced foreign investment and the heavy burden of foreign debt servicing. These factors have had a detr
The Pakistani rupee gained Rs5 against the US dollar on Monday with experts attributing the local currency’s gains to the stand-by agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week. According to the Forex Association of Pakistan, the rupee had appreciated to Rs285 in the open market as the stock market crossed the 2,000 mark. The interbank rate was not available due to Mond
Pakistan’s annual consumer inflation remained elevated at 29.4 per cent year-on-year in June but eased sharply from a record high 38pc in May largely helped by a high base effect, the statistics bureau and a brokerage house said on Monday. The data came after the country, facing a deep economic crisis, secured a $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday. Month-o
With the inflows of commercial loans, the foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) crossed the $4 billion mark during the week ending on June 23. The central bank reported that during the week its reserves increased by $533 million to $4.069bn mainly due to the realisation of $300m commercial loans to the Government of Pakistan. The country’s total reserves increased to