Pakistan moved to ease pressure on the rupee in the open market, sending the currency surging in the retail market.

State Bank of Pakistan allowed dealers to buy dollars from the interbank market to settle card-based cross border transactions, the central bank said on its website Thursday. The rupee climbed 4.7% in the open market to 296.5 per dollar, while holding steady at 285.2 in the interbank market.

The rupee may rise further to about 286 per dollar in the next three or four days in the open market, Zafar Paracha, general secretary at Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan, said by phone.

The measure will last until the end of July, the central bank said. Previously, banks were only allowed to purchase dollars from exchange companies for these transactions.

Author: Karl Lester M. Yap and Ismail Dilawar