Pak rupee hits record low at 146.25

KARACHI: Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken notice of the free fall of the rupee in open market after the currency hit a new intra-day low of 147 to the US dollar and closed at a record low at 146.25 on Wednesday.
"The government has no plan to let the rupee depreciate (further)," a participant of a meeting presided over by PM Imran told The Express Tribune.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir also attended the meeting held in Islamabad.
Currency dealers reported that the rupee closed at a record low at 146.25 to the greenback in the open market.
In the inter-bank market, however, the currency remained stable at Rs141.39. The rupee has continued to stay stable at the current level in the inter-bank market for over one month now, according to the central bank.
With this, the spread between the rupee value in the inter-bank market and open market has reached a staggering Rs4.90, or 3.5%
Earlier, the central bank had asked foreign exchange companies to maintain the spread of rupee at around 1%.
A few currency dealers said they were acutely short of dollars as potential foreign currency sellers were reluctant to come to the exchange counters, while buyers were ready to purchase dollars at higher prices.