KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee (PKR) gained 11 paisa against the dollar on Friday after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved $1.5 billion in financing to the country.
The exchange rate recorded a gain of 11 paisa in value of the rupee to end at PKR 220.84 to the dollar from the previous day’s close of PKR 220.95 on the interbank foreign exchange market.
READ MORE: Dollar inches up to PKR 220.95 in interbank market
Currency experts said AfDB’s approval of the lending program helped the rupiah gain.
The AfDB said in a statement on Friday that it had approved $1.5 billion in financing to help the Pakistani government provide social protection, promote food security and support employment for its population in a context devastating floods and global supply chain disruptions.
Furthermore, the Rupee was also supported by the shrinking current account deficit in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
READ MORE: Rupee plunges to PKR 220.88 vs USD in interbank
Pakistan’s current account deficit registered a decline of 37% to $2.21 billion in the first quarter (July-September) of the financial year 2022/2023, according to official data released on Wednesday.
The country’s current account deficit was $3.53 billion in the same quarter last fiscal year.
The contraction in the current account deficit can be attributed to a significant decline in the trade deficit. The trade deficit also contracted by 21.32% to $9.22 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, compared to a deficit of $11.72 billion in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. .
READ MORE: Rupee decline continues; The dollar closes at 219.71 PKR in interbank
In addition, the local currency also received support as the level of foreign exchange reserves remained stable.
Pakistan’s weekly foreign exchange reserves increased nominally to $13.251 billion in the week ending October 14, 2022 from $13.247 billion a week ago, i.e. October 7, 2022.
READ MORE: PKR falls in dollar in interbank on October 17, 2022
