Karachi December 30 2021: Foreign exchange reserves held by State Bank of Pakistan decline by USD 298 million during the week ending December 24, 2021, as per data released by the Central Bank.
The main reason of this decline in foreign exchange reserves could be the higher commodity imports, and debt repayments.
For the week ended December 03, 2021 the reserves help by state bank recorded at USD 18.658 billion.
At the week ending August 27, the foreign exchange reserves held by the state bank increased to an all-time high of USD 20.15 billion as Pakistan received general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth USD 2,751.8 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on August 24 2021.
At present, SBP reserves stands at the level of USD 17.855 billion as of 24th December 2021 compared to USD 18.153 billion at the end of week ending 17th December 2021.
During the same period, foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks also decrease by USD 61 million to the level of USD 6.418 billion as of 24th December 2021.
Overall reserves held by country witnessed decline of USD 359 million during the week of 24th December 2021.