Rupee edges up Rs1.17 vs dollar.

Byline: Shahid Iqbal

KARACHI -- The first active day of 2020-21 saw the rupee make some gain against the dollar which remained dominant throughout the outgoing fiscal year that ended on June 30.

The rupee rose by Rs1.17, or 0.7 per cent, on Thursday to close at Rs166.88 Currency dealers said it was shocking for them that the dollar depreciated by Rs1.17 in a single session.

'In fact the dollar should have depreciated on June 30 when companies calculate their profits at the end of the fiscal year; low greenback price increases the bottom line of firms who have millions in other foreign currencies,' said a senior banker dealing in the interbank market.

The dollar traded at Rs166.88 at the close of the day in interbank market, said a senior banker who believes the greenback could gain once again as trading resumes on Monday (New York is closed on Friday on account of Independence Day).

On June 30 - the last day FY20, the dollar ended at Rs168.05, sliding by 13 paisas from its opening rate.

'We were expecting the dollar to go high. It slightly lost against the local currency just before the end of the year, but the State Bank influenced through its typical mechanism to bring down the exchange rate in favour of rupee,' said the banker.

The dollar was in high demand during June as importers rushed to buy petroleum products which were short in the country.

Bankers said the exchange rate is stable and would keep fluctuating within the range of Rs165-170 while there is no chance to see any major gain by the rupee mainly on account of low foreign exchange reserves.

'The inflows to the State Bank have recently increased but other factors like low remittances and sharply...

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