KARACHI: The rupee is gradually and slowly losing the strength it gained against the US dollar during the last couple of months in both the interbank and open markets.

The State Bank of Pakistan on Monday reported that the greenback continued its appreciation drive against the local currency for the sixth day in a row and added another 38 paise to close at Rs280.95 in the interbank market.

Currency experts said nothing has changed since the crackdown on illegal currency businesses started in the first week of Sept. However, the market sentiments changed due to a host of reasons.

They said the hope for foreign investment from the Middle East has dried up due to Israel-Palestine war while the inflows of remittances in September were much lower than expectations. At the same time, the exporters halted selling their proceeds.

Some currency dealers maintained that most of the exporters have already sold out their future inflows at a little premium.

The open market also noted an increase of Re1 in the dollar price as inflows have slowed down.

However, exchange companies said they have sold up to $300 million in October to the banks.

Earlier, these dollars were either smuggled to Afghanistan and Iran or were sold out in the grey market in Dubai which was offering much higher prices.

The exchange companies quoted the dollar rate at Rs282.50 on Monday from Rs281.50 in the previous session.