- SBP Governor Reza Baquir sees early signs of economic recovery, boosting Pakistani Rupee (PKR)
- Google mobility data indicates activity is picking up
- US Dollar (USD) looks to jobless claims data, 19.5% unemployment expected
- At 10:15 UTC, USD/PKR is trading -1.17% at 162.75
The Pakistani Rupee is extending gains for a second straight session on Thursday, paring losses from earlier in the week. The Pakistan Rupee settled on Wednesday +0.5% at 164.67.
At 10:15 UTC, USD/PKR is trading -1.17% at 162.75 as the Rupee continues to edge away from the 5-week high of 166.05 reached earlier in the week.
The Pakistani Rupee is being supported by upbeat comments from the State Bank of Pakistan’s Governor Reza Baquir, who advised that the Pakistan economy was showing early signs of recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
Reza Baquir said that the economic reforms initiated in June last year have allowed the Pakistan economy to fight against the covid-19 crisis. He added that cross country growth comparisons indicate that Pakistan’s economic outlook is more resilient compared to many other countries.
Google mobility data for 25th May showed that activity in Pakistan had dropped over 60% owing to coronavirus. However, this is now changing according to Reza Baquir with sectors such as retail, grocery, pharmacies, parks and workplaces showing an increase of activity.
The US Dollar is pushing higher versus its major peers on Thursday, reversing 5 days of losses. Risk sentiment, which has been on the rise over the past week, is taking a breather ahead of key US economic data.
Investors are looking ahead to US jobless claims data. Analysts are expecting US jobless claims to show that unemployment was at 19.5% in May, a level last seen in the great depression of the 1930’s.
The data comes after yesterday’s ADP payroll data which showed that 2.76 million private sector jobs were lost in May. This was well below the 9 million that analysts had forecast and significantly below April’s 25 million, booting the US Dollar.
In addition to the better than forecast data, Trump reiterating that he won’t use the military against protesters on the streets of US cities and a slight easing of tensions with China are underpinning sentiment.
