SBP injects $200m to stabilise rupee

The State Bank of Pakistan said it was injecting capital as the rupee traded at an all-time low of 80.5 rupees to the dollar in the foreign exchange market. It eventually closed at 79.5 rupees. “Yes, we are intervening in the market (to stabilise the rupee),” State Bank of Pakistan spokesman Syed Waseemuddin told AFP. “I cannot disclose the amount of money involved in this exercise at this point of time.”

The rupee has lost 23 per cent of its value against the dollar this year, mainly due to economic turmoil, a wave of militant violence and a fall in country’s foreign exchange reserves. “There is a huge demand from importers which is putting an extra pressure,” Nabeel Iqbal, research manager at Khanani and Kalia forex company, told AFP.

“The thing most needed is to restore the confidence of foreign investors to improve the supply of dollars in the system,” he said.