KARACHI: The Pakistani rupee staged a swift but heavy comeback in the interbank market on Monday as it went up by a healthy margin of Rs1.57 against the US dollar.

According to the forex dealers, the rupee which suffered an 18-paisa slide in its value as the business opened on Monday, quickly recovered the loss and staged a remarkable turnaround, gaining Rs1.57. Currently, the greenback was being traded at Rs261.25.

On the last business day on Friday, the Pakistani rupee maintained its upward trajectory against the US dollar for the fourth successive session, appreciating 0.59%. As per the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the currency closed at Rs262.82 against the US dollar, an increase of Rs1.56.

Despite the gains, the Pakistani currency has depreciated by 21.8% during the ongoing fiscal year against the greenback. In a key development, foreign exchange reserves held by the SBP had increased by $276 million to $3.19 billion. This was the first increase in reserves after three weeks.

Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $8.7 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks stood at $5.51 billion. However, the reserves’ level is still alarmingly low at less than one month of import cover.