KARACHI: The rupee ended almost flat against the dollar in the interbank market on Tuesday.The rupee closed at 278.3 per dollar, compared with 278.31 in the previous session. In the open market, the local currency gained ground. It traded at 279.6 against the dollar, slightly up from 279.75 on Monday.
Dealers said the rupee remained range-bound, and it’s expected to continue this trend in the coming sessions.The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), in a monetary policy statement on Tuesday, said that the current account turned into a deficit of $0.3 billion in April, leading to a cumulative deficit of $0.2 billion during July-April FY26. This was mainly due to a widening of the trade deficit amidst the surge in energy imports in April, which more than offset the resilient workers’ remittances.
“The realisation of sizeable workers’ remittances during May is likely to contain the current account deficit in FY26 to the lower end of the earlier projected range, despite the challenging external environment,” it said.
“On the financing side, an increase in official inflows provided critical support in meeting external obligations. These developments have facilitated ongoing FX purchases and buildup in the SBP’s FX reserves, which are projected to reach $18 billion by end June 2026,” it added.
Notwithstanding some expected widening in the current account deficit in FY27, the SBP noted that the reserve buildup is expected to continue amidst FX purchases and timely realisation of planned official inflows.
