KARACHI: Pakistan’s official foreign exchange reserves have plunged to only $3.68 billion by week ended January 20, 2023, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Thursday.
The central bank said that its official reserves of the SBP declined by $923 million to $3.678 billion by week ended January 20, 2023 as compared with $4.601 billion a week ago or January 13, 2023.
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The SBP said that the decline in foreign exchange reserves were due to scheduled external repayment.
The present level of the official reserves have fallen below one month import cover. The import bill of the country for the month of December 2022 was recorded at $5.16 billion, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
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The benchmark foreign exchange reserves of a central bank should be at a level to provide three months import cover.
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 $16.468 billion.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s total forex reserves further deplete to $11.42 billion
The foreign exchange reserves of the country recorded a decline of $990 million to $9.453 billion by week ended January 20, 2023 when compared with $10.443 billion by week ended January 13, 2023.
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 $17.775 billion.
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The foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks also fell by $67 million to $5.775 billion by week ended January 20, 2023 when compared with January 13, 2023.
