KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) dropped to dangerous level of $3.089 billion, according to official data released on Thursday.
The SBP said that its official reserves declined by $592 million to $3.086 billion by week ended January 27, 2023 as compared with $3.678 billion a week ago.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s official forex reserves shrink to only $3.68 billion
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 January 2023 was recorded at $4.856 billion, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
READ MORE: Pakistan’s total forex reserves inch up to $10.44 billion
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 $17.06 billion.
READ MORE: State Bank’s forex reserves plummet to only $4.34 billion
The foreign exchange reserves of the country recorded a decline of $711 million to $8.742 billion by week ended January 27, 2023 when compared with $9.453 billion by week ended January 20, 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 $18.486 billion.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s total forex reserves further deplete to $11.42 billion
The foreign exchange reserves of the commercial banks also fell by $119 million to $5.656 billion by week ended January 27, 2023 when compared with $5.775 billion as of January 20, 2023.
