The Pakistani rupee (USDPKR) recently accelerated its downfall and traded lower yesterday, on March 8, snapping a 3-day winning streak. The exchange rate struggled to build on last week's momentum following a new episode of Pakistan's talks with the IMF, which took a heavy toll. The IMF has demanded that Pakistan implement tough economic reforms, including measures to reduce its fiscal deficit and increase its tax revenues.

The rupee has dropped nearly 5% since its record daily loss. It had hit 250 in the last week of January and has been ever since in the red most of the time since then due to the enormous economic pressure.

Markets didn't buy SBP Governor Jameel Ahmed's comments that Pakistan should reach a staff-level agreement with the IMF to release $1.1 billion by completing the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program and signing off on lenders. Speaking recently at a seminar in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaq Dar cited the economic crisis as one of the many challenges faced by Pakistan, which was caused by the previous [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf] government. While the incumbent government is working to fix these issues and that progress will soon be visible, he added.

Overall, gains are unlikely after Pakistan's reported its debt burden hitting Rs. 549.42 billion in January 2023 compared to Rs. 423.96 billion in January 2022, an increase of Rs. 125.46 billion. On a monthly basis (MoM), debt rose by 7.7%, or Rs 3,946 trillion, from Rs 50,996 trillion in December 2022.