Pakistani rupee touches historic low figure

The decline happened at a time when Pakistan's rapidly depleting foreign exchange reserves and an unyielding International Monetary Fund (IMF) forced the government to relax its grip on the currency.

Following the government's decision to end its control over the rupee-dollar exchange rate as part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) condition, the currency slid 9.61%, or Rs24.5, to a record low of 255.43 against the US dollar compared to Wednesday's close of Rs230.89, reports Geo News.

The over 9% decline was its highest since October 30, 1999, when the currency slumped 9.4%.

“SBP is seemingly adjusting the exchange rate to the market rate — closer to open market to address the widening difference between the official and open market rate and to curb the flow of dollars through the informal market,”  Saad Ali, capital market expert, told the news channel.