ISLAMABAD, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Devaluation of the Pakistani rupee against the U.S. dollar continued as the greenback touched a historic high of 173.2 rupees in interbank trading on Monday.
The U.S. dollar closed at 171.18 rupees on Friday, and on Monday opened higher at 173.2 rupees, after the local currency nose-dived by 2.02 rupees, or about 1.2 percent, web-based financial data and analytics portals reported.
The Pakistani rupee has suffered depreciation by 13.75 percent against the greenback since May this year when it started surging from 152.27 rupees.
Local economic analysts believed that the high demand for the greenback as well as the rise of petroleum prices in international markets are among the key factors of devaluation of the local currency.
In the wake of the surging U.S. currency, local importers have bought a bulk of dollars from the local market, leading to the continuous surge of the U.S. dollar.
The surge of the U.S. dollar was also attributed to the influence of Pakistan's negotiations with the International Monetary Fund about releasing a tranche of loan for the Asian country, Muhammad Ali Kemal, economic policy advisor at the sustainable development goals division under the country's Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, told Xinhua.
