KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee once again surpassed the 203 mark in the interbank market against the US dollar during intra-day trade in the first session after speculation ended following the announcement of the coalition government’s maiden federal budget 2022-23.
The local currency shed Rs0.65 in the interbank market and was trading at 203 in the interbank market,.
“The sentiment is negative across all capital markets today,” capital market expert Saad Ali told .
The expert said that the federal budget for the next fiscal year was being seen as a “major milestone” for the revival of the stalled $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
However, Ali stated that the market believes that the federal budget is “insufficient” and the Fund may not accept this budget.
“In line with the statement of Finance Minister Miftah Ismail over the weekend, the market players expect that the government might have to revisit its proposed allocations and targets set in the federal budget in order to convince the IMF,” he added.
Ali added that the federal budget has further jeopardised the revival of the much-awaited IMF programme. He maintained that more clarity is needed as for now the sentiments are the government will have to do more.
It is worth mentioning that on June 7, the local currency closed at an all-time low of Rs202.83, surpassing its previous record low of Rs202 registered on May 26.
