KATHMANDU, June 22: Nepali rupee slid 1.30 percent against a US dollar this week, as the greenback strengthened against Indian currency, with which rupee is pegged, on the back of growing demand of oil firms and gold traders in India.
Gold, on the other hand, became cheaper by Rs 600 per tola (11.664) grams over the week, even though it hit a new high in the mid-week trading, thanks to low demand for yellow metal in the international market.
Currency
Nepali rupee shed Rs 1.17 against a US dollar over the week. This rendered imports expensive, but raised the income of remittances receivers and exporters. On Friday, a dollar was valued Rs 90.58.
Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), country´s monetary authority, had opened the trading Sunday with exchange rate of dollar set at Rs 89.41. Though rupee gained 51 paisa on Monday, it slid 59 paisa overnight, causing Nepali rupee to suffer a net drop of 8 paisa over these two days. Rupee shed further 46 paisa on Wednesday. Though it recorded an overnight gain of 10 paisa on Thursday, rupee shed 73 paisa when the market closed this week on Friday.
Likewise, rupee shed Rs 1.88 against a euro and a whopping Rs 3.68 against a pound sterling over the week. A euro was exchanged at Rs 114.73, while a pound sterling was valued Rs 142.22 on Friday.
Bullion
Though gold hit new high on Tuesday, consumers found gold priced cheaper by Rs 515 per 10 grams on Friday compared to Sunday. Dealers who traded gold at Rs 48,525 per 10 grams on Friday attributed the drop to decline in prices of the yellow metal in international market.
Bullion trading had opened this week with gold priced at Rs 49,040 per 10 grams on Sunday. Though the price dropped by Rs 85 per 10 grams on Monday, the yellow metal became dearer by Rs 515 overnight and hit a new high of Rs 49,470 per 10 grams on Tuesday. But price gradually recoiled, with gold becoming cheaper by Rs 170 per 10 grams on Wednesday and further Rs 90 per ten grams on Thursday. It further became cheaper by Rs 685 per ten grams on Friday.
Silver also became cheaper by Rs 34.5 per 10 grams over the week. On Friday, silver was traded at Rs 874.50 per ten grams.
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