KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee ended broadly unchanged against the US dollar in the interbank market on Tuesday.
The rupee closed at 278.10 per dollar, compared with the previous close of 278.11.Dealers said the local currency remained stable due to a balance between demand and supply of dollars in the market. Moreover, positive sentiment surrounding Pakistan’s economy also supported the rupee.
The country’s external account has shown significant improvement. The current account deficit narrowed from $17.5 billion (4.7 per cent of GDP) in FY22, which required import and dividend restrictions, to $3.3 billion in FY23. It further reduced to $2.1 billion in FY24 and eventually reached a surplus of $2.1 billion (0.5 per cent of GDP) in FY25. The current account has remained in surplus during the 11 months of FY26.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country’s external buffers have continued to improve, particularly foreign exchange reserves, which increased significantly to $18.4 billion at the end of FY26, marking an increase of about $5.5 billion compared to $13 billion a year earlier.
The forex reserves have increased despite a heavy debt repayment of $8 billion in the last quarter of FY26 alone. The SBP anticipates that by the end of December this year, the SBP’s FX reserves will cross the $20.2 billion mark.
