Alarm bells: Pakistan's forex reserves fall $956m to $7.9b

KARACHI: The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) declined $956 million to $7.96 billion during the week ended on November 4, 2022, according to data released by the central bank.

In a statement, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said the total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $13.72 billion. Net foreign reserves held by commercial banks clocked in at $5.76 billion after a reduction of $2 million.

“During the week ended on November 4, 2022, SBP’s reserves decreased by $956 million to $7,957 million due to external debt servicing,” said SBP in a statement.

“Major external debt repayments executed during the week include repayment of government’s commercial loans,” it said.

Total liquid foreign #reserves held by the country stood at US$ 13.72 billion as of November 04, 2022. For details: https://t.co/WpSgomnKT3 pic.twitter.com/jNbdDpUjNR

— SBP (@StateBank_Pak) November 11, 2022

The SBP further said that “refinancing of these loans was in process which would improve foreign exchange reserves in the coming weeks”.