Pakistan rupee drops to record low as import restrictions ease

Pakistan's rupee fell to a record low in the interbank market on Tuesday due to an easing in import restrictions that has lifted demand for the dollar.

Pakistan imposed import restrictions from 2022 to stem outflows from its shrinking foreign reserves. The removal of those restrictions beginning in June was a condition of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan programme to help the crisis-ridden economy.

Traders said the rupee fell 0.6 per cent to an intraday low of 299 against the dollar. On May 11, it logged a record closing low of 298.93. That was two days after former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested on allegations of land graft, plunging the country further into political turmoil.

Pakistan is currently being governed by a caretaker government that is tasked with steering the country through to a national election that should, in theory, take place by November, while grappling with searing political tension as well as historically high inflation and interest rates.

Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib, a Karachi-based brokerage company, said he expected the rupee to trade between 295 and 305 to the dollar for the time being.

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