The continued drop in the reserves is alarming as it raises concern about Pakistan's ability to meet its financing requirements because the reserves have fallen below the $7.5-billion mark.
Although the Saudi government has released $1 billion under the promised $3-billion financial assistance, the impact is yet to be seen.
On the other hand, Chinese Embassy Deputy Head of Mission Zhao Lijian has assured Pakistan of a financial package to boost its flagging foreign currency reserves, hinting that it would be bigger than that pledged by Saudi Arabia.
Foreign exchange: SBP reserves dive $196m, stand at $7.48b
On November 16, the foreign currency reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) were recorded at $7,286.5 million, down $196.4 million compared with $7,482.9 million in the previous week.
The decrease was attributed to external debt servicing and other official payments.
The SBP received $1 billion on November 19 as placement of funds by Saudi Arabia, after which the SBP's reserves stood at $8,293.9 million and total liquid foreign reserves at $14,722.4 million, the release added.
Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13,715 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,428.5 million.
Pakistan receives much-awaited $1b from Saudi Arabia
A month ago, China agreed to immediately give a loan of $2 billion to Pakistan, a move meant to arrest the slide in foreign currency reserves and provide much-needed breathing space for the new government.
Earlier, the reserves dipped to $9.06 billion, forcing the central bank to let the rupee depreciate massively for the fourth time since December 2017 and sparking concern about the country's ability to finance a hefty import bill as well as meet debt obligations in coming months.
In April, the SBP's reserves increased $593 million due to official inflows. A few months ago, the reserves surged due to official inflows including $622 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and $106 million from the World Bank.
The SBP also received $350 million under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) earlier.
In January, the SBP made a $500-million loan repayment to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), China.
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