The Pakistani rupee registered a marginal decline of 0.02% against the US dollar during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Thursday.
At 10:20am, the currency was hovering at 278.45, an increase of Re0.05 against the greenback.
On Wednesday, the local unit settled at 278.40 against the US dollar.
In a key development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday appreciated Pakistan’s tough economic decisions and efforts regarding hike in gas prices.
According to sources, Pakistan and the IMF held virtual talks on the efforts made in the budget to meet the conditions. The IMF was briefed on the measures taken by Pakistan to increase gas prices and other tough economic decisions in the budget, sources added.
The sources disclosed that an important development was expected towards the end of the ongoing month as far as the new loan programme for Pakistan was concerned. The volume of the programme, which would be for a three-year period, could be between $6 billion and $8 billion.
Globally, the US dollar was on the backfoot on Thursday after US economic data continued to point to slowing growth, although that gave little relief to the yen, which was pinned around a 38-year low that kept the market on alert for government intervention.
The euro held not far off a three-week high against the greenback, and sterling firmed ahead of UK elections later in the day.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of peer currencies, was flat at 105.28 after briefly weakening to its lowest since June 13 at 105.04 on Wednesday.
Oil prices, a key indicator of currency parity, fell in Asia on Thursday, with investors turning cautious on expectations of lower demand as US employment and business data came in weaker than forecast, signalling the economy of the world’s top oil consumer may be cooling.
Brent crude futures were down 48 cents, or 0.55%, at $86.86 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 51 cents, or 0.62%, to $83.36 by 0342 GMT, with activity thinned by the US Independence Day holiday.
This is an intra-day update
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