The liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country recorded a huge outflow of $1.64 billion in a single week ended on October 15.
The SBP reserves plunged by $1.64 billion to $17.49 billion from $19.13 billion mainly due to external debt repayment that included repayment of USD 1,000 million against Pakistan International Sukuk.
The massive depletion of foreign exchange reserves is one of the reasons which put pressure on the rupee against the dollar, which depreciated steeply in the last couple of days. Currently, PKR stands at Rs. 174 against the dollar and the value of the rupee can further depreciate if healthy reserves of dollars are not maintained by the central bank.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the foreign exchange reserves of the country decreased to stand at $24.3 billion from nearly $26 billion a couple of weeks ago.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the commercial banks stood at $6.835 billion, according to SBP.
