FX reserves deplete to $5.5 billion

Fall $245m in week ended Dec 30 owing to external debt repayment

KARACHI:

The foreign exchange (FX) reserves held by the central bank fell by 4.2% on a week-on-week basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

On December 30, 2022 the FX reserves of the SBP were recorded at $5,576.5 million, down $245 million as compared with $5,821.9 million on December 23.

According to the SBP, the decrease in reserves came due to external debt repayment. Overall, the liquid FX reserves held by the country, including the net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $11,422.5 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $5,846 million.

Earlier, in the week ended on December 23, the SBP’s reserves decreased by $294 million to $5,821.9 million as Pakistan repaid some of its external debt.

Research houses said that the reserves had hit their lowest level since April 2014, a more than eight-and-a-half-year low, which were hardly enough to finance five weeks of imports.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2023.

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