KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declined by $340 million to $8 billion by week ended September 23, 2022, according to a statement issued on Thursday.
The official foreign exchange reserves of the central bank were at $8.346 billion a week ago i.e. September 16, 2022.
READ MORE: Pakistan’s forex reserves slip to $14.07 billion
The SBP attributed the decline in foreign exchange reserves to external debt repayments.
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 $12.146 billion.
Experts said that falling foreign exchange reserves would reverse the recent gain in value of the Pakistani Rupee (PKR).
The PKR on Thursday continued its winning streak and gained PKR 10.08 against the dollar during past five straight sessions owing to assumption of Ishaq Dar the portfolio of the finance minister of the country.
READ MORE: Pakistan FX reserves slip to $14.32 billion
The exchange rate reached near to record low of PKR 239.71 on September 22, 2022 to the dollar but ended at PKR 229.63 on September 29, 2022.
Earlier this month, SBP received US$ 1,166 million from IMF under EFF program, which increased the official reserves to $8.8 billion
READ MORE: Pakistan’s FX reserves increase by $1.07bn after IMF inflows
The total liquid foreign exchange reserves of the country also fell by $308 million to $13.762 billion by week ended September 23, 2022 as compared with $14.07 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 $13.466 billion.
The foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks however increased by $32 million to $5.756 billion by week ended September 23, 2022 as compared with $5.724 billion a week ago.
