Pakistan Says Concerns ‘Overblown’ as Rupee Drops Most Since ‘98
- Annual funding need seen at $33.5b, available financing $35.9b
- Rupee has biggest weekly drop in more than two decades
People cross over a pedestrian bridge under a traffic junction in Karachi.
Photographer: Asim Hafeez/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Pakistan will meet its elevated funding needs comfortably with the International Monetary Fund bailout remaining on track, the central bank said, even as the rupee completed its biggest weekly plunge since 1998.
The South Asian nation needs a total $33.5 billion in the year through June 2023, while available financing stands at $35.9 billion for the period, according to a presentation State Bank of Pakistan’s Acting Governor Murtaza Syed made to foreign investors this week, a copy of which was seen by Bloomberg. The nation’s currency has lost 8.3% this week, as the IMF’s expected loan is seen as insufficient to avert a default.