On Monday, the Pakistani rupee (PKR) and stock markets lost more ground as the coalition government’s first budget for the fiscal year 2022-23 failed to restore investor confidence, contrary to market expectations.
During intra-day trade, the Pakistani currency surpassed the key level of 204 versus the US dollar in the interbank market, while the benchmark KSE-100 index of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell by roughly 800 points, according to Geo News.
“The sentiment is negative across all capital markets today,” capital market expert Saad Ali said.
The expert said that the federal budget for the next fiscal year was being seen as a “major milestone” for the revival of the stalled $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, Geo News reported.
However, Ali stated that the markets believe that the federal budget is “insufficient” and the Fund may not accept this budget.
