The Pakistani rupee was on a downward trend versus the US dollar on Thursday, losing almost 0.2% during interbank trading.
At 12:45 pm, the rupee was trading at 285.80, or Re0.40 lower.
The decrease comes after the rupee continued to lose ground against the US dollar on Wednesday, closing at 285.40 in the inter-bank market.
In a significant development, Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha emphasised on Wednesday that the country’s way forward is to stay in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) plan, and that the Finance Division and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) are continually engaged with the Fund.
She stated that the administration has achieved significant progress on the IMF programme and does not want to detract from it.
Experts believe that resuming the IMF programme, which has been halted since last year, is critical for the debt-ridden economy.
Globally, the US dollar stayed near a seven-week high on Thursday, as President Joe Biden and senior US House Republican Kevin McCarthy worked to avoid a devastating debt default, while the Australian dollar fell in response to weak job statistics.
Biden and McCarthy reiterated their intention to reach an agreement soon to raise the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, after agreeing the day before to negotiate directly following a months-long deadlock.
The dollar index gained to 102.86 against a basket of currencies, close to its seven-week high achieved the previous day.
Oil prices, a crucial currency parity indicator, dipped in early Asian trade on Thursday as traders waited for signs of success in discussions to extend the US debt ceiling, after soaring over 3% the previous session on optimism about US fuel demand.
