KARACHI: Rupee saw no respite on Friday and devalued to Rs209.13 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market during intra-day trading due to market’s panic over the revival of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to Pakistan.
The present government is taking steps to resume the IMF programme and secure the next tranche of loan worth $900 million.
In this regard, the government announced a third hike in the prices of petroleum products on June 15 in less than three weeks, as it looked to quickly appease the IMF that emphasised the termination of energy subsidies to revive its bailout programme.
The local currency also took a hit after the US Federal Reserve announced biggest rate hike since 1994 and dollar strengthened significantly against global currencies.
At close on Thursday, the local currency finished with a loss of Rs1.21 or 0.58% to settle at then historic low of Rs207.67.