The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased 8.1 percent on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
On July 22, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8.575 billion, down $754 million compared to $9.329 on July 15 mainly due to external debt and other payments.
Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $14.414 billion. Net reserves held by banks stood at $5.839 billion, registering a decrease of $73 million.
This is the fourth consecutive weekly drop in the central bank’s reserves since the inflow of proceeds of the Chinese Consortium loan of $2.3 billion temporarily pushed the reserves above $10 billion on June 24.
The Pakistani Rupee plunged to a new low on Thursday closing at a historic low of 239.94 against the US Dollar. The rupee has been one of the world’s worst-performing currencies, falling by more than 30 percent since the beginning of the calendar year 2022.
The country’s current account has recorded a significant deficit of $17.4 billion for the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
However, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail recently claimed that the inflows of dollars into Pakistan will soon be higher than the outflow, resulting in a stable exchange rate.
