Foreign exchange Reserves fall by $602 million, distressing imports- SBP report

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) expressed on Thursday, the decline in Foreign exchange reserves by over $600 million during the week ending on June 22, the decline is of 5.86% on weekly basis.

The decline has effected central bank’s reserves to $9.663 billion which is not sufficient enough  to cover two months of imports. The SBP reported that $602m were utilized for debt servicing and other official payments during this week.

The country’s overall reserves amounted to $16.244bn.

However, the foreign exchange holdings of the commercial banks have further increased to $6.581bn; a rise of $48m within a week.

Overall, liquid foreign reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $16,243.9 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,581.4 million.

In April, the SBP’s reserves increased $593 million due to official inflows. Pakistan also raised $2.5 billion in November 2017 by floating dollar-denominated bonds in the international market in a bid to shore up official reserves.

The commercial holdings have been on the rise since June 2017 when they jumped to $5.258bn from $4.775bn in the previous week.

In the past one year, private holdings have increased by $1.325bn.