KARACHI: Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have increased by $162 million to $8.70 billion by week ended February 10, 2023.
The total foreign exchange reserves of the country were at $8.54 billion a week ago i.e. February 03, 2023, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit an all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $18.526 billion.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s official foreign exchange reserves fall below $3 billion or nine-year low
The official reserves of SBP also increased by $275 million to $3.192 billion by week ended February 10, 2023 as compared with $2.917 billion a week ago.
The current level of the official foreign exchange reserves are only to provide import cover for about two weeks or 19 days.
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The import bill for the month of January 2023 has been recorded at $4.856 billion, as per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The benchmark foreign exchange reserves of a central bank should be at a level to provide three months import cover.
The official foreign exchange reserves of SBP fell sharply to an almost nine-year low. Previously, the official reserves of the SBP were seen at this level at $3.19 billion in February 2014.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s official forex reserves shrink to only $3.68 billion
The central bank attributed the decline in foreign exchange reserves to scheduled external repayment.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high at $20.146 billion by the week ended August 27, 2021. Since then the official reserves of the SBP dropped by $16.954 billion.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s total forex reserves inch up to $10.44 billion
On the other hand, the foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks fell by $113 million to $5.51 billion by the week ended February 10, 2023 when compared with $5.623 billion a week ago.
