The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank decreased by another 16 percent on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
On January 27, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $3.086 billion, down $592 million compared to $3.678 billion on January 20. The central bank reserves are currently at their lowest since February 2014.
Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $8.742 billion. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.656 billion, registering a decrease of $119 million during the week.
The SBP said in a statement that the decline in reserves on a weekly basis was due to external debt repayments.
According to Arif Habib Limited, the current reserves are enough for import cover of fewer than 0.61 months (approximately 18 days). The unprecedented free-fall in the country’s foreign exchanges has seen reserves held by the central bank plunge by almost $2.5 billion since the start of the current calendar year.
