The Pakistan rupee on Tuesday dropped against the US dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market.

The local unit shed 26 paisad against the greenback which was trading at Rs279.56 at the closing of the market as against the previous day’s closing of Rs279.35.

In the open market, the buying and selling rates of the dollar stood at Rs279.7 and Rs282.25, respectively.

Meanwhile, the price of the Euro decreased by three paisas to close at Rs301.24 against the last day’s closing of Rs301.27 while the exchange rates of the Emirates Dirham and the Saudi Riyal increased by five paisas and six paisas to close at Rs76.11 and Rs74.54, respectively.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings has said that Pakistan’s external position has improved in recent months, with the State Bank of Pakistan reporting net foreign reserves of $8 billion as of February 9, up from a low of $2.9 billion on February 3.

“Nevertheless, this is low relative to projected external funding needs, which we expect will continue to exceed reserves for at least the next few years. We estimate Pakistan met less than half of its $18 billion funding plan in the first two quarters of the fiscal year ending June 2024 (FY24), excluding routine rollovers of bilateral debt,” it said.