KARACHI: The rupee extended losses against the US dollar in both currency markets on Monday despite smooth talks with the IMF team.

The dollar surged by Rs2 in the open market giving a sense of steep PKR depreciation at Rs287 compared to Rs285 on Nov 3.

The interbank market noted a decline of 98 paise to 285.29 from Rs284.31 in the previous session.

Currency experts said that despite the expected positive outcome from the IMF talks, the market was not ready to stop chasing the greenback at higher rates.

The dollar’s winning stre­­ak entered the 11th con­­­s­ecutive session on Mo­n­day. It hit its lowest at Rs276 on October 16 after the rupee started its recovery drive on Sept 5 following a crackdown on illegal forex trading and smuggling to Afghanistan and Iran.

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Some bankers believe that a short supply of dollars and poor growth of exports could further weaken the local currency. Experts said the announc­ement of general elections on Feb 8, 2024, has attached some additional uncertainty in the political and economic scenario.

A currency dealer said the spike in the dollar rate in the open market reflects the short supply of dollars and future uncertainty.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2023