The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank fell by $220 million during the week, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.
On October 20, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $7.494 billion, down $220 million compared to $7.714 billion on October 13. In a statement, the central bank said that the decline in reserves was on account of debt repayments.
Overall liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $12.656 billion, down $257 million over the previous week. The net reserves held by banks stood at $5.161 billion, registering a decline of $38 million during the week.
This is the first time since July 7 that the reserves held by the central bank have dipped below the $7.5 billion mark. On July 14, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8.727 billion, up $4.2 billion compared to $4.524 billion on July 7. The massive increase in reserves was due to inflows from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
It is pertinent to mention here that the IMF mission is set to arrive in Pakistan on November 2 for talks over the first review. The successful completion of the talks will result in the release of a loan tranche of $710 million in December.
