KARACHI: The rupee remained under pressure and lost 78 paise more to the US dollar in the interbank market while the open market remained steady on Friday.

Currency dealers in the interbank market said the demand was higher than in previous days due to the weekend session. The State Bank reported the closing price at Rs301 against Rs300.22 a day before.

Bankers said importers purchased dollars at higher prices fearing further hikes when the market opens on Monday amid persistent uncertainty.

The interim finance minister’s announcement that the government will ensure a free exchange rate encouraged traders to sell greenbacks at higher rates.

Unlike the interbank, the open market remained calm. The Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan reported no change in the dollar price at Rs314.

However, some insiders said the money changers were selling the dollar at higher than the announced prices. It has become common practice that open market selling and buying rates are different than the rates announced by the representative body of exchange companies.

“No inflow is expected on Monday which means the dollar price will go higher particularly when the government is not ready to check the price mechanism in the open market,” said a currency dealer.

Some currency dealers said the grey market price on Friday was Rs325 which is considered the real value of the dollar and the people are buying at this rate.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2023