The Pakistani rupee continued to strengthen against the US dollar on Friday, gaining 0.18% in the interbank market.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Pakistani rupee ended at 284.40, up to Re0.51.
This comes a day after the rupee resumed its upward trend, ending the day at 284.91 in the inter-bank market, up Rs1.71 or 0.60%.
In a significant step towards restarting the delayed bailout plan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it will pay $1 billion in bilateral assistance to Pakistan, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday.
Pakistan was expected to provide assurances that its balance of payments deficit will be completely funded for the remainder of the IMF programme, which has been frozen since November of last year.
Pakistan will get another $300 million from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC) on Friday, according to the finance minister.
The Chinese institution has previously given Pakistan $1 billion.
On Friday, the US dollar hovered near a two-month low against key rivals, while the euro flirted with a one-year high, as traders increased forecasts of the US Federal Reserve’s rate-hike cycle coming to an end due to signs of falling inflation.
The US Labour Department said on Thursday that the producer pricing index (PPI) decreased by the highest in nearly three years last month, after inflation statistics that indicated a reduction in consumer prices the day before.
Following Thursday’s data release, the dollar index fell to a two-month low of 100.84 in the prior session.
Oil prices increased on Friday on concerns about tighter supply, with the market anticipating the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) monthly report later in the day to explain the global demand outlook.
