Today Open Market Currency Rates in Pakistan - PKR Exchange Rates

Open Market Rates in Pakistan

An open market is basically that market of any country to which all economic players have an access to and can do the trade without the tension of extraneous constraints. In easy words open market basically allows free trade between countries. In terms of banking, open market allows the transaction of assets between countries.

The word “open” in open market generally refers to the following characteristics of any market;

• The extent of competition
• Any sort / number of cultural constraints which might hinder the trade
• The number of regulations, government imposes on these markets

Generally these are the constraints that make trade difficult. The lesser the impact of the following on market of any country, the more open is the market of that country. Open market gives equal opportunity to all economic players in the buying and selling of currency, goods, assets etc. An open market is free of tariffs, subsidies and levies, which ensures the participation of more entities in the market. The more open markets of the world are of Canada, Australia, Western Europe and USA whereas North Korea, Brazil and Cuba are comparatively closed markets, allowing lesser number of economic participants to trade in the market.

Currency Exchange

Apart from buying and selling of goods, currencies are also exchanged between open markets of different countries. International banks, most famous being Deutsche Bank, Barclays, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi etc are involved in fixing the rate of currency exchange in the global market. One central national bank of every country sets exchange rate of currency on daily basis and this process is known as Foreign Exchange Fixing.

How Currency Exchange Works

The currency exchange rate basically tells us the worth of our money in foreign currency. If we want to purchase or buy a currency, the exchange rate lets us know how much we would have to pay to purchase that currency. Exchange rate for currencies is determined by foreign exchange traders. The exchange rate is also an indicator of building up or weakening of a currency. Before getting your currency exchanged, you ought to know the buying and selling rate of the concerned currency in the market. Usually best deals are offered by National Banks but other than that money can be exchanged at money changers in every country.

In Pakistan, currency can be exchanged at the following;

• Western Union
• Dollar East Money Changer
• Pakistan Currency Exchange Co Pvt Limited
• AA Exchange, Lahore
• Paragon Exchange, Lahore
• Habib Qatar International Exchange Pakistan
• Wall Street Exchange Co Pvt Ltd
• Ravi Exchange, Lahore
• Pay Exchanger, Lahore
• Link International Exchange Co Pvt Ltd
• Apni Exchange, Lahore

Elements Affecting Exchange Rates

Exchange rates of any country are affected by three factors;

• Usually investors around the world would buy any currency depending on the interest rate being paid on the currency by the central bank of that country. More value is imparted to the currency by high interest rates. Investors purchase high value currency and then save it in bank to keep on receiving high interest on it.
• If there is too much of money supply because of over printing of currency, more money is available but goods to be purchased are less. This leads to bidding of money and devaluation of the currency hence lowering that currency’s exchange rate.
• The economic growth rate and financial stability of any country push up the exchange rate of its currency in the global market.

Interbank Rate Difference

Currency exchange rates in open market are different from interbank rates. Banks usually charge a higher exchange rate on the currency because of the added interest to it. Banks worldwide have to hold liquid assets to put up with the withdrawal and payments on the part of clients due to which interest is added when it comes to currency purchase or selling. It is suitable for investors to head to bank for currency exchange since they plan on reserving the money to make it double but for common people it is more feasible to visit local money exchangers to get a good deal for their money.

Effect of Exchange Rate on Economy

The economic growth of a country and its currency exchange rate has a directly proportional relationship. Greater the currency exchange rate of a country greater the economic growth of that country. If the economy of a country is strong then more global investors would purchase its goods and services hence buying more of its currency.

The economy of Pakistan has not been in a stable position since a long time due to which our currency continues to devalue hence leading to change in currency exchange rates. When the new government took over recently, the price of Dollar was reduced by 4 points but now again the price has gone up by 9 Rupees giving a hard time to Pakistan’s economy. For people in Pakistan, who want to buy or sell foreign currency, there is no margin for profit. We get lesser amount in return if we purchase foreign currency. Similarly we get less if we sell foreign currency. This is applicable to currencies that have high exchange rate than Pakistani Rupee.

You can get the open market currency exchange rates of US Dollar in Pakistan ($ USD) and all major currencies including Euro EUR, British Pound GBP, Saudi Riyal SAR, UAE Dirham AED, Canadian Dollar CAD and Chinese Yuan. The current buying and selling prices are given which are converted in Pakistani Rupees PKR. There is a very handy tool of Currency Convertor is also available to easily convert any currency online.