Rupee hits record low against US dollar at 278

KARACHI – The rupee on Friday once again depreciated against the US dollar amid reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been asking the government to do more on the economic front.

The rupee was trading at 278 against the dollar in the interbank market during the intra-day trade.

The local currency had closed at Rs271.35 against the greenback a day earlier making it a downfall of Rs4.65.

A day earlier the IMF rejected the government’s circular debt management plan. 

And today it was reported that the Fund has conveyed to the authorities to undertake substantial qualitative and sustainable tax and non-tax revenue measures to fetch additional revenues for filling the projected gap of Rs600 billion in the fiscal framework.

The IMF delegation has asked the government to jack up the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) tax collection target to align it with the projected nominal growth in the current fiscal year mainly with the help of a surge in the CPI-based inflationary pressures.

As the talks continue, alarmingly, the foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) nosedived to just $3.08 billion as of January 27.

The country faces a double-edged sword, as the dollar inflows in shape of loans from multilateral and bilateral have severely choked and shrunk.