The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank declined by 2.5 percent on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
On May 26, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $4.091 billion, down $102 million compared to $4.193 billion on May 19. The central bank said in a statement that the decline in reserves was due to external debt repayments.
Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $9.513 billion, down $218 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.442 billion, registering a decrease of $116 million during the week.
The fifth consecutive decline in the central bank’s reserves has now pushed the country’s import cover to just 0.90 months, according to Arif Habib Limited. In simpler terms, Pakistan does not have enough reserves to cover import bill of even one month.
