KARACHI:Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell 2.62 percent on a weekly basis, according to data released on Thursday.
The continued drop in the reserves is alarming as it raises concern about Pakistan’s ability to meet its financing requirements because the reserves have fallen below the $7.5 billion mark.
On November 16, the foreign currency reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) were recorded at $7.286 billion, down $196.4 million compared with $7.482 billion in the previous week.
The decrease was attributed to external debt servicing and other official payments.
The SBP received $1.0 billion on November 19 as placement of funds by Saudi Arabia, after which the SBP’s reserves stood at $8.293 billion and total liquid foreign reserves at $14.722 billion, the release added.
Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $13.715 billion. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6.428 billion.