Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves decline by US$381 mn: SBP

KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday shared that the country’s liquid foreign reserves have declined by US$381 million during the week ended on November 12, ARY NEWS reported.

According to details shared by the SBP, the country current liquid reserves stood at US$ 23,550.6 million on 12-November-2021 despite a decline in the central bank’s reserves by US$381 million.

While giving a break-up, it said that the foreign reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan stood at US$ 16,945.4 million along with the US$6,605.2 million reserves with the commercial banks.

The pressure on the reserves has led to the devaluation of the rupee in the currency market against the US dollar.

The Pakistani rupee pared some gains against the United States (US) dollars in the interbank currency market on Thursday.

According to foreign currency dealers, the local unit depreciated 91 paisas to Rs174.67 against the greenback in the interbank.

In the open market, however, the dollar is trading at Rs175.40 against the rupee.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin had said that ‘satta mafia‘ was behind the depreciation of the rupee besides smuggling of the dollar to Afghanistan. He announced that the government was going to tighten the noose around the mafia.

The local currency started recovering from its steep fall against the US dollar on Oct 27, after the government announced Saudi Arabia’s financial support of up to $4.2 billion, raising the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves and boosting the sentiments of the currency market.

A week later, however, the rupee snapped its winning streak and began reversing gains.