KARACHI (November 19 2002) : The Pakistan rupee on Monday rose to 26-month high at Rs 57.90 for a dollar in the kerb market.
Moneychangers said that the rupee appreciated sharply as nobody seemed interested to keep the dollar holdings. The moneychangers had predicted before Ramazan that the greenback would lose at least Re 1 due to Eid season.
The demand for dollars has been on the decline since the rise of foreign exchange reserves and it has been losing its position despite all efforts by State Bank to hold it to a reasonably high level, for supporting the exporters.
On September 19, 2000, the dollar was available at Rs 57.95 and since then it picked up pace against the rupee and reached up to Rs 67 in September, 2001.
Pakistan's dollar reserves rose from 3.2 billion dollars to 8.6 billion dollars in a year, which strengthened the rupee position.
On the other hand, the dollar itself has been under pressure for more than a year as most of the leading world currencies have been gaining against it.
However, the dollar appreciated in the inter-bank market by 7 to 10 paisa and it reached, from Rs 58.38 on Saturday, up to Rs 58.48 on Monday.
