The Pakistani rupee surged more against the US dollar on Friday, gaining 0.43% during the first hours of trading in the interbank market.
At 11:15 a.m., the rupee was trading at 296.68, up Rs1.28 on the interbank market.
The rupee gained 0.29% on Wednesday to close at 297.96.
Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the key policy rate at 22%, predicting that inflation will continue to fall in the future.
This is the second consecutive meeting in which the MPC has kept the policy rate unchanged.
The MPC’s decision proceeds counter to market expectations of a rate hike.
Internationally, the US dollar maintained steady in Asia on Friday, easing somewhat from overnight gains against peers as the yuan rose in response to some market-beating Chinese economic data.
The dollar rose overnight after US retail sales increased 0.6% in August vs a projected 0.2% increase, while market players reacted to the European Central Bank’s 25-basis-point move.
The US dollar index was last at 105.32, little down than Thursday’s six-month high of 105.43.
Oil prices, an essential currency parity indicator, reached on Friday and are on track for a third weekly gain, as better-than-expected Chinese economic statistics and claims of record oil consumption strengthened the assumption that demand in the world’s second-largest crude consumer will continue to rise.
