Economy / Pakistan
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Rupee Depreciation Continues
November 2006 | Market AlertSorry, you must be a subscriber to view this article in full. If you are a subscriber please login.
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Although Pakistan's heavily-managed rupee currency has been depreciating steadily over the past two years, it has fallen particularly sharply over the past fortnight, hitting a two-year low of PKR60.85/US on November 16. The main reason has been rising dollar demand for import and debt payments. Pakistan's import bill far exceeds its export receipts, mainly because of high demand for oil. The trade deficit widened from US$4.514bn in FY2004/05 (July-June) to US$8.442bn in FY05/06. In the first three months (July-September) of the current fiscal year, the gap rose to US$2.724bn, from US$2.056bn in July-September 2005. Consequently, the current account deficit has