Pakistan official reserves fall to around 1 ½ months import coverage

Pakistan official reserves fall to around 1 ½ months import coverage

KARACHI: Pakistan’s official foreign exchange reserves have declined to meet only one and half months cover for import payment, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday.

The official foreign exchange reserves of the SBP fell by $134 million to $7.826 billion by week ended November 18, 2022 as compared with $7.96 billion a week ago.

READ MORE: Pakistan forex reserves inch up to $13.796 billion

The import bill of the country was at $4.71 billion in October 2022, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Assuring the month import bill the existing foreign exchange reserves of the SBP have reduced to cover only 1.66 months import payment.

The central bank attributed the decline in official reserves to repayment against external debt.

READ MORE: Pakistan FX reserves slip sharply by $958 mn on external payments

The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank witnessed a record high at $20.146 billion by week ended August 27, 2021. Since then the official reserves of the SBP dropped by $12.32 billion.

It is pertinent to mention that the SBP’s reserves witnessed sizeable increase a week ago after the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released the fund amounting $1.5 billion to Pakistan on October 26, 2022.

READ MORE: SBP’s weekly forex reserves dip by $157 million to $7.44 billion

The total reserves of the country fell by $151 million to $13.645 billion by week ended November 18, 2022 as compared with $13.796 billion a week ago.

The country’s foreign exchange reserves hit all-time high of $27.228 billion on August 27, 2021. Since then the foreign exchange reserves have declined by $13.583 billion.

READ MORE: Pakistan’s weekly forex reserves increase nominally

The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks also recorded a decline of $17 million to $5.819 billion by week ended November 18, 2022 as compared with $5.836 billion a week ago.