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  • Rising risk appetite lifts Pakistani Rupee (PKR)
  • IMF requests Pakistan freezes government salaries
  • US NFP to see 8 million job losses in May
  • At 10:15 UTC, USD/PKR trades at -0.1% at 163.30

The Pakistani Rupee continues to rebound versus the US Dollar after falling across the earlier part of the week. The Rupee settled 0.7% higher on Thursday at 163.52.

At 10:15 UTC, USD/PKR is trading -0.1% lower at 163.30. This is approximately mid way between the daily traded range of 162.75 – 163.52 amid a broad risk on mood in the financial markets ahead of US non-farm payrolls later today.

Investors remain upbeat, with the focus staying firmly on the reopening of global economies. Risk on sentiment has boosted demand for riskier assets and currencies such as the Pakistani Rupee, whilst dragging on the safe haven US Dollar.

Pakistan stocks were also in demand trading 0.5% higher, with 1.75% gains recorded across the week.

In domestic news, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Pakistan to freeze the salaries of government officials and employees in order to follow the fiscal consolidation path needed as public debt is set to hit 90% of the value of the entire national economy. The government is less than impressed with the request as rising inflation erodes peoples buying power, effectively serving as a pay cut if wages are frozen.

The coronavirus crisis has exposed vulnerabilities in the Pakistan economy, which had already been struggling even before the covid-19 outbreak.

The US Dollar is softer across the board as investors continue to show an extraordinary ability to shrug off the dire data laying bare the extent of damage that the coronavirus crisis has inflicted on the economy.

Today investors will look towards the release of the US non farm payroll report. Analysts are expecting the Labour Department report to reveal that 8 million jobs were lost in May. Whilst this is an terrible figure, it is a significant improvement on April’s 25 million job losses.

The unemployment rate is expected to increase to 19.5%, up from 14.7% in the previous month and a level last seen in the Great Depression of the 1930’s.

ADP private payroll data released earlier in the week beat expectations by a wide margin. The ADP report is often considered a lead indicator the non-farm payroll, so a surprise to the upside could be on the cards. Even if the numbers are disappointing, there is a good chance that economic reopening hopes will overshadow any weak reading.