Pakistan rupee close to touching 200 mark against dollar

Amid the country's rising imports and depleting foreign reserves, the rupee dropped by Rs 3.87 in a single day.

In all the currency has maintained the downturn on the ninth consecutive working day as it cumulatively lost 7.5 % or Rs 13.92.

Experts believe that weakening the rupee could open up Pakistanis to a second round of inflationary impact, which will hit the lower and middle classes the hardest.

"A weaker rupee means costlier imports that increase inflation, which affect the lower and lower-middle class more than the upper-middle class or the very rich," a brokerage company CEO told Dawn.

In addition, an appreciated dollar raises costs of production, which will have an adverse impact on the competitiveness of the country's products in the international market.

The decline in the rupee is said to be because of an uncontrolled increase in imports coupled with a relatively slower pace of growth in exports.

The country's foreign exchange reserves have depleted to the critically low level of $10.3 billion which covers just six weeks of imports compared to the usual three-month import cover, reports local media.

The pakistan government, in a counter move to the economic woes, was reported to have imposed a complete ban on the import of non-essential and luxury items on Wednesday.

(With UNI inputs)