SBP held reserves plummet below $3 billion
Business
Total reserves of Pakistan are $8.54 billion after adding commercial banks’ $5.62 billion
KARACHI (Web Desk) - The foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) have plummeted to $2.92 billion after another $170 million fall on Thursday.
This is the lowest reserves value in about nine years since February 2014.
However, the total reserves of Pakistan sum at $8.54 billion as $5.62 billion have been reserved with the country’s commercial banks.
The reserves declined by $170 million to $2,916.7 million because of foreign loan payments during the week ended on February 3, 2023, SBP said in a statement.
During the last week, SBP held foreign exchange reserves had fallen by $592 million to $3.09 billion.
The current value of SBP’s reserves is not enough to cover fuel imports of the country for one month.
Pakistan has also been looking to complete the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) assessment to avail the next tranche of $1.1 billion. However the talks have been going on in that regard and an announcement is expected after the Fund’s executive board announcement.
Pakistan has been making payments on its international debt commitments despite severe shortage of the falling foreign exchange reserves to avoid default.
