Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves held by the Central Bank decreased again by 1.7 percent.
According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), foreign currency reserves held by the central bank on November 18 were recorded at $7,825.7 million, down $134 million from $7,959.5 million. are November 11.
The country’s total liquid foreign currency reserves, including net reserves with banks other than the State Bank, stood at $13,645 million.
Net deposits held by banks were $5,819.3 million. The central bank attributed the shortfall to external debt repayments.
With the current position of foreign exchange reserves, Pakistan’s import cover is 1.6 months.
The reserve position is expected to strengthen after Pakistan gets funds from friendly countries.
Earlier this month, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced that the State Bank would receive $500 million. Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in the current month.
In a tweet, the finance minister shared that the AIIB board approved the funding as “co-financing of the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded BRACE program for Pakistan”.
“These funds will be received by the State Bank within November 2022,” he said.
Analysts believe that foreign exchange reserves do not bode well for this. Local currency which is currently not on a strong footing against the US dollar.
