The United States (US) Dollar on Friday evening took a dive against the Pakistani rupee on the Google currency converter, leaving traders perplexed.
As per the details, the USD crashed to Rs152.62 from Rs277.50 earlier in the evening. While no statements were issued by Google or Morningstar Inc that provides the search giant with data for its currency converter, it was probably an erroneous entry that was fixed moments after the glitch was first noticed.
It is pertinent to note that the glitch wasn’t the first of its kind as on June 7, 2023, a similar case was observed when the value of the rupee dropped sharply only for it to turn out as a simple data entry error.
Such errors have also occurred back in 2022 and 2018, leaving many confused. Had this been true, there would be great economic and business implications.
However, there has been no change in the economy to suggest a rise in value of the rupee of this magnitude.
One of the few entities that could have been responsible behind such a large rise in the value of the rupee is the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). While it does hold the power to artificially increase the value of the rupee by buying it up using foreign reserves, there is no evidence to support such a large activity.
Instead, the SBP actually reported its foreign exchange reserves to have grown by $116 million to $11.15 billion on October 25.
While such a rise is a dream for many businesses and citizens alike in Pakistan, the lack of evidence that suggests such a change in the value of the rupee makes it exactly that: a dream.
