KARACHI: The situation with the US dollar has spiraled out of control since the caretaker government assumed power. The Pakistani rupee is experiencing a continuous depreciation against the US dollar and other foreign currencies.
The devaluation of the Pakistani Rupee and the strengthening of the US Dollar persist. Since May, the Pakistani Rupee has steadily declined in value compared to the Sri Lankan Rupee, with the dollar now being equivalent to 320 Sri Lankan Rupees and 324 Pakistani Rupees.
In May, one US dollar was valued at 305 Pakistani rupees and 304 Sri Lankan rupees. Within just three months, Pakistan has witnessed a significant drop in its currency’s value, making it the weakest currency in South Asia. In contrast, the Indian rupee has strengthened by 25 paise during the same period, reaching a rate of 82.75 rupees per dollar in the interbank market, marking an increase of 9 paise.
Additionally, the Afghan currency has shown improvement, appreciating by 6 Afghanis against the US dollar, making one dollar equivalent to 81 Afghanis. Furthermore, a report published in the international economic journal Trading Economics has ranked Pakistan 18th among countries affected by inflation.
According to the World Journal’s report, the country is grappling with a continuous rise in inflation, with the inflation rate now standing at 28.3 percent. Comparatively, Nigeria has an inflation rate of 24.08 percent, and Las has a rate of 27.8 percent.
Data from Trading Economics illustrates that Afghanistan has the lowest inflation rate in the region, at a negative 6.5 percent, while Pakistan ranks fourth among Asian countries in terms of inflation.
