Curren­cy has shed 4.9% to the dollar in the past one weekKARACHI: The government has no plan to let the rupee weaken further, said Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a statement that comes amid rumours and speculation that the currency would continue to fall after a nearly 5% hit within the week. In a text message to Bloomberg, the premier said that his government has “no plans” to further depreciate the rupee and future levels of the currency would be determined by the market. Since December 8, the rupee has weakened 4.87%, or Rs5.14, to the greenback, signifying its inherent weakness as pressure on foreign exchange reserves and the trade deficit piles up. However, Abbasi said that the overall impact on inflation would “probably be less than 0.5%”. The State Bank of Pakistan also maintained that it would not intervene to control the rupee.

Source: The Express Tribune December 15, 2017 17:03 UTC