KARACHI: The rupee edged higher against the dollar in the interbank market on Wednesday.
The rupee closed at 279.72 per dollar, up 0.01 per cent from its close at 279.75 in the previous session.
Dealers said that the local currency posted nominal gains as dollar sales from exporters along with remittances exceeded demand from importers.
Pakistan’s trade deficit for January decreased by 7.0 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and 29 per cent month-on-month (MoM), reaching $2.73 billion. Exports increased by 4.0 per cent compared to the previous year and 35 percent from the previous month, totalling $3.06 billion. Monthly imports stood at $5.79 billion, marking a decline of 1.0 per cent YoY and 5.0 per cent MoM. This brings the trade deficit to $17.2 billion for the first seven months of this fiscal year, which is an increase of 28 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank rose by $13 million to $16.1 billion during the week ending January 23. The country’s total liquid foreign reserves also rose by $35 million to $21.293 billion. In the same way, the reserves of commercial banks increased by $22 million to $5.192 billion.
