Pakistani Rupee (PKR)

The official currency of Pakistan is the rupee (PKR). One rupee consists of 100 paise (singular = paisa). When Pakistan began printing its own currency in 1948, they used Indian currency with "Pakistan" stamped on it for the first few months until enough of the Pakistani notes were in circulation. Until 1961, the rupee was divided into 16 Annas before being changed to 100 paise. From the time of the rupee's introduction until the turn of the 21 st century, it steadily declined in value against the U.S. dollar.



What does it look like?

Prominent Figures

The current President of Pakistan is Asif Ali Zardaei. The central bank of Pakistan is the State Bank of Pakistan. The governor of the bank is Shamshad Akhtar

Key Economic Factors

Pakistan has had a difficult time economically and politically over the past decade. The IMF has established several reform and economic adjustment programs for the country, but domestic political weakness and division have made effective reform elusive. While average annual GDP growth has hovered around four percent, Pakistan's potential growth rate is probably closer to six percent if it could achieve macroeconomic and political stability. Poor tax collection and administration infrastructure kept the government budget perpetually in deficit and limited the public sector's ability to fund infrastructure development and basic social services. And, defense spending absorbed a high share of government resources that were available.

The major turning point in Pakistan's fortunes regarding international assistance came in the last quarter of 2001 when the US-led war on terrorism fought its first battle in neighboring Afghanistan. The Musharraf government elected, at no little domestic political risk to its future, to cooperate with the United States and was fortunate to have the first major phase of the war next door end with a new Afghan government it can live and work with and with the gratitude of the United States well-earned. Prospects for aid and debt relief are much improved and progress is already being made that will reduce Pakistan's international debt burden.

Although agriculture is declining as a percentage of total output, this sector remains the primary economic activity in Pakistan. Cotton, wheat, rice and sugarcane are the primary crops, which benefit from an extensive irrigation system. The annual cotton crop is of particular importance as it provides the input to the textile and garment industry, which is the nation's dominant export industry. Pakistan is attempting to increase its information technology sector, but only three percent of the populace has telephones at home. Having achieved a degree of self-sufficiency in the armaments sector, Pakistan is now promoting arms sales as a means of generating more diversified export revenue.

RUPEE VERSUS US DOLLAR

Pakistani rupee is now trading at very close to 82 Rupees to a US dollar.

CURRENT EXCHANGE RATES

Updated on: Fri, August 21, 2009, 17:10 (PST)
Remittance	Buying	Selling	Trends
USD	82.80	83.10
GBP	133.94	135.40
SR	21.94	22.04
UAE	22.33	22.55
NEWZ	43.5	43.8
AUS	67.84	68.69
EUR	116.17	118.47
CAD	74.39	75.49
HONG	10.44	10.68
IND	1.58	1.68
JPY	0.8624	0.8789

For updated exchange rate click
http://finance.kalpoint.com/forexpk.html