The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased by almost half a billion dollars on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

On June 16, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $3.537 billion, down $482 million compared to $4.019 billion on June 9.

In a statement, the central bank said that the decrease was due to external debt repayment. During the current week, SBP has received $300 million proceeds of the Government of Pakistan commercial loan. These inflows shall be incorporated in the reserves position to be published as of June 23, 2023, the statement added.

Courtesy: Topline Securities

Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $8.864 billion, down $514 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.327 billion, registering a decrease of $33 million during the week.

The decrease in reserves means that the country does not have enough reserves to cover import bill of even month.

Source: Pro Pakistani