ISLAMABAD, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) — The Pakistani rupee’s losing streak continues against the U.S. dollar, hitting a new record low as the greenback was traded at 304.45 rupees in the interbank market on Wednesday, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
The U.S. dollar closed at the then-record low of 303.05 rupees on Tuesday. On the third session of the week, the local currency depreciated by 1.4 rupees, or about 0.46 percent, against the U.S. dollar, official figures showed.
Talking to Xinhua, Muzzammil Aslam, former spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance, said the primary reason for the under-pressured exchange rate is the ongoing political instability, including uncertainty looming around the elections in the country.
Moreover, future debt repayments are another factor due to which there is pressure on the foreign exchange in the market, he added.
Following the recently signed stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund, unfortunately, the exports and foreign remittances did not pick up, as per expectations, resulting in the constant decline of the value of local currency, according to Aslam.
