Pakistani rupee crashes as political uncertainty looms after ruling PML-N routed by Imran Khan's PTI in Punjab by-polls

Karachi: The Pakistani rupee crashed to a record low against the US dollar on Monday following the political uncertainty after Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party routed the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party in the crucial Punjab assembly by-polls. The development was dealing a major blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif whose son Hamza Shehbaz is all set to lose his post as chief minister. Apart from the Pakistani rupee crash which was trading at an all time high at Rs 215 in the inter banking trading, the benchmark KSE (Karachi Stock Exchange)-100 index also plunged by more than 700 points during intraday trade. All financial analysts said the political uncertainty had led to the slide in the forex and stock exchange trading. The rupee lost massive ground to the US dollar losing 4.3 rupees by midday in interbank trade. The dollar was trading at an all time high of 215.25 rupees after it had closed at 210.95 last week. Faisal Nawaz, a financial analyst at Topline securities, said that the political uncertainty arising out of the outcome of the Punjab by-polls a day earlier had created the uncertain situation. “Business is hurting because no one is certain what happens now and how long the central government will last, he said. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.