Dollar, gold rates surge

KARACHI: The prices of gold and dollar rate recorded an upward trend on Wednesday during the opening hours of trade.

The Pakistani rupee registered losses against the US dollar, depreciating another 0.71percent  during the opening hours of trading in the inter-bank market on Wednesday.

At 11:20am, the rupee was hovering at 279, a decrease of Rs1.97, in the inter-bank market.

On Tuesday, the rupee ended its 28-session appreciation run, as the currency depreciated 0.07% to settle at 277.03.

The price of gold also witnessed an upward trend and 24 karat gold price was recorded at Rs 207,000 an increase of 2000 from yesterday.

According to the Jewelers Association, the price of 10 grams of gold has increased to Rs 177,469 rupees. The price of 22 carat gold per tola has become Rs 187,916 while the price of 10 grams is Rs 162,680.

Meanwhile, Shabbar Zaidi, ex-chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, termed the US dollar hike as ‘artificial’ and urged the authorities to take immediate action.

This price hike in $is artificial. Immediate actions. Names of all persons buying from Exchange Companies regularly & frequently to be communicated to State Bank & FBR. Exchange Company’s sale of $ to be inspected daily by State Bank staff. Intelligence agencies to be activated.

— SyedShabbarZaidi (@SShabbarZaidi) October 18, 2023

“Names of all persons buying from Exchange Companies regularly and frequently to be communicated to State Bank (SBP) and FBR. EC’s sale of US dollars to be inspected daily by SBP staff. Intelligence agencies to be activated,” said Zaidi on Wednesday.