Karachi June 2 2022: Foreign exchange reserves held by State Bank of Pakistan registered decline for the sixth consecutive week to the level that is enough to cover country import bill for 41 days.
For the week ending May 27, 2022, Reserves held with SBP down by USD 365 million to USD 9.722 billion as per data released by the Central Bank.
The main reason of this decrease in foreign exchange reserves is external debt repayments.
“The terms and conditions for refinancing of RMB 15 billion deposit by Chinese banks (about US$ 2.3 billion) have been agreed”, says Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.
He added, ‘Inflow is expected shortly after some routine approvals from both sides. This will help shore up our foreign exchange reserves.”
Pakistan imported goods of USD 59.8 billion and services of USD 9.3 billion during the period from July to April, as per data published by State Bank of Pakistan.
At present, SBP reserves stands at the level of USD 9.722 billion as of 27th May 2022 compared to USD 10.088 billion at the end of week ending 20th May 2022.
During the same period, foreign exchange reserves held by commercial banks also decreased by USD 13 million to the level of USD 6.048 billion as of 27th May 2022.
Overall reserves held by country witnessed a decrease of USD 378 million during the week ended 27th May 2022.
