The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank fell by 10.7% on a week-on-week basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
On November 4, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $7,957 million, down by $956 million compared with $8,912.9 million on October 28.
The SBP attributed the decrease in reserves to external debt servicing.
“Major external debt repayments executed during the week include repayment of GoP (government of Pakistan) commercial loans,” the central bank said in a statement.
“Refinancing of these loans is in process, which will improve the foreign exchange reserves in the coming weeks,” it added.
Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13,721 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,764 million.
In the week ended August 27, 2021, the foreign exchange reserves soared to an all-time high of $20.15 billion after Pakistan received the general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth $2.751 billion from the IMF on August 24.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2022.
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